Strive has overtaken MARA Holdings to become the fourth-largest publicly listed Bitcoin holder after buying 7,356 BTC across two weeks, bringing its treasury to 36,818 BTC. The Dallas-based company now sits 7,182 BTC behind Japan’s Metaplanet, according to BitcoinTreasuries data, after a buying pace that exceeded Strategy’s purchases in each of the past two reported weeks.
The advance places Strive among a small group of companies whose equity valuations and capital structures are increasingly shaped by their ability to raise funds for Bitcoin acquisitions. Its latest purchases were financed alongside a $630 million perpetual preferred-stock sale carrying a 15% cumulative annual dividend, adding substantial recurring payment obligations even as the company expands its coin holdings.
Strive, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy and led by chairman and chief executive Matt Cole, became a public company through its September 2025 merger with Asset Entities. It later completed an all-stock acquisition of Semler Scientific in January 2026, a transaction valued at roughly $1.3 billion.
Three weeks of accelerated Bitcoin buying
Strive’s reported Bitcoin purchases increased across three consecutive disclosure periods. It bought 2,000 BTC from Sept. 28 through Oct. 2 at an average price of about $84,422, lifting its holdings to 29,462 BTC. The company then acquired 3,311 BTC during Oct. 5–9 at an average of roughly $84,500, reaching 32,773 BTC.
The latest disclosure covered 4,045 BTC purchased from Oct. 12 through Oct. 16 at a combined average price of about $82,803. That total included 2,822 BTC acquired on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 for about $235 million, followed by 1,223 BTC bought between Oct. 14 and Oct. 16 at an average price near $81,734.
The purchases raised Strive from around 7,500 BTC at the end of 2025 to 36,818 BTC within less than a year. BitcoinTreasuries ranked Strategy first among public-company holders with 848,517 BTC, followed by Metaplanet with 44,000 BTC and Twenty One Capital with 43,514 BTC. MARA stood fifth with 35,577 BTC, putting Strive ahead by 1,241 BTC.
Strive’s recent buying also outpaced Strategy’s reported activity despite the enormous difference in their overall holdings. Strive bought 3,311 BTC during Oct. 5–11, compared with Strategy’s 250 BTC, according to their respective filings. During Oct. 12–18, Strategy reported buying 267 BTC at an average price of about $82,900, while Strive acquired 4,045 BTC.
Strategy’s slower Bitcoin accumulation came as it devoted capital to preferred-stock repurchases. Its board expanded a repurchase authorization to $3 billion from $2 billion, with $1.16 billion remaining as of Oct. 18. The company reported repurchasing $192.4 million of its STRC preferred shares during Oct. 5–11.
Metaplanet pauses accumulation
Metaplanet’s position in second place may be difficult for Strive to close quickly. A The Block estimate cited in the original report calculated that Strive would need to buy roughly 700 BTC a week through year-end to pass Metaplanet, assuming the Japanese company’s holdings remain unchanged.
Metaplanet has indicated that it is not currently directing newly raised funds toward Bitcoin purchases. On Oct. 13, it announced a 52 billion yen zero-coupon convertible bond, stating that proceeds would be allocated to repaying about 23.6 billion yen in Bitcoin-backed loans and repurchasing about 28.3 billion yen of shares.
The company’s financing choices follow a period of active treasury management. Metaplanet sold 10,000 BTC and bought 11,000 BTC during the third quarter, producing a net increase of 1,000 BTC that moved it ahead of Twenty One Capital. As of late September, its borrowings represented 17.7% of Bitcoin net asset value, above its stated 10% ceiling.
A pause in Metaplanet’s purchases could create an opening for Strive, but Strive’s available purchasing capacity depends on how much of its new preferred-stock proceeds remains after dividend reserves and other potential uses of capital.
Preferred stock funds expansion but raises fixed costs
Strive closed a sale of 7 million shares of its SATS perpetual preferred stock on Oct. 20 at $90 per share, generating approximately $630 million in gross proceeds. Barclays and Cantor led the offering, which was expanded from an initial plan to sell 5 million shares.
Each SATS share has a $100 liquidation preference and pays a 15% annual cumulative dividend that accrues daily. Since the shares were sold below their stated value, the effective annual yield at the $90 issue price is about 16.7%. The first dividend payment is scheduled for Nov. 9.
The stated value of the issuance totals $700 million, implying annual dividends of about $105 million. Strive also funded a dividend reserve of $22.50 per SATS share at closing, equal to 18 months of payments. That reserve totaled roughly $157.5 million.
Using the report’s conservative calculation, subtracting the reserve from the $630 million raised would leave about $470 million. At a Bitcoin price around $83,000, that amount could purchase no more than approximately 5,700 BTC, taking Strive’s holdings toward 42,500 BTC. That would leave the company below Metaplanet’s reported 44,000 BTC unless it deploys proceeds from other funding sources.
Strive has said proceeds may be used to acquire Bitcoin and related products, buy income-producing assets, repurchase common stock or SATA preferred stock, and for other corporate purposes. It has not allocated specific dollar amounts to each use.
SATS ranks below Strive’s earlier SATA preferred shares but ahead of common stock. The company had about 13.5 million SATA shares outstanding in early October, representing roughly $1.35 billion in stated value. SATA’s dividend rate is adjustable and was about 13% in September, according to the report.
Combined annual dividends across SATA and SATS were estimated at about $280 million. Those obligations place preferred shareholders ahead of common shareholders in the capital structure and could limit the amount of cash available for further Bitcoin accumulation or share repurchases.
Common shareholders face a more layered capital structure
Strive’s filings have cautioned that Bitcoin-per-share measures do not account for the senior claims held by preferred shareholders. As of Sept. 30, SATA’s stated value alone equaled about 55.3% of the reported value of the company’s Bitcoin, before accounting for the newly issued SATS series.
The company’s capital structure after the SATS transaction was described as about $2.8 billion in common equity, $1.4 billion in SATA preferred stock and $700 million in SATS preferred stock, with no debt. While the absence of traditional debt distinguishes Strive from companies relying on convertible notes or Bitcoin-backed loans, the preferred dividends create fixed cash demands that remain payable regardless of Bitcoin’s market price.
Strive also has authorization to repurchase as much as $500 million of SATA. The report noted that the authorization exceeded the company’s reported cash balance at the time by about $210 million, leaving management to balance potential preferred repurchases against Bitcoin purchases and dividend commitments.
Its common-stock base has expanded as warrants expired. Traditional warrants exercisable at $27 per share for 15,255,900 shares reached their final expiry on Oct. 13. Exercises on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 generated about $369 million and added approximately 13.7 million Class A common shares.
Bitcoin trading around $82,000 to $84,000 leaves Strive’s most recent purchases roughly near their acquisition prices. That reduces the immediate mark-to-market benefit from the latest buying and makes the company’s funding structure more relevant than a simple rise in reported BTC holdings. An expected Oct. 26 filing would provide the first purchase disclosure after the SATS offering closed, showing whether the new capital has already been deployed into Bitcoin or retained for dividends, repurchases, or other uses.
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