Strive nears $27 warrant trigger, CEO eyes No. 2 bitcoin holder

Strive (ASST) shares climbed to a year-to-date high of $26.84 on Thursday, leaving the stock less than 1 percent below the $27 exercise price on more than $700 million in warrants that expire in mid-October.

"I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for Strive to end the year as the number two largest bitcoin holder," Matt Cole, chief executive officer at Strive, said Wednesday on the One Share podcast. He cautioned that the outcome is not his base case and would require several factors to fall in the company's favor.

Strive ramped up purchases in August, adding 3,156 BTC versus 136 BTC in July, when bitcoin traded in the low $62,000 range. The firm now holds 23,156 BTC worth nearly $1.9 billion, making it the fifth-largest publicly traded bitcoin treasury after passing crypto exchange Bullish last week. The No. 2 spot belongs to Twenty One Capital with 43,514 BTC, a stash Twenty One has not added to since July 2025.

With 17 weeks left in the year, Strive would need to buy roughly 1,200 BTC a week to overtake Twenty One. Cole said conversion of the warrants could hand the company hundreds of millions of dollars to deploy into bitcoin, and that combined with $700 million in digital-credit capacity the firm could command $1.4 billion for purchases — an "electric finish" to its 2026 accumulation.

"If we averaged a thousand bitcoin per week on average, which may or may not happen, that in and of itself is a lot of bitcoin," Cole said. "I think our ability to shoot up the rankings is pretty high right now."

The stock's run has outpaced its peers. ASST has outperformed the 10 largest public bitcoin treasury companies by an average of 82 percent this year, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data. TD Cowen lifted its year-end bitcoin forecast for Strive to 27,156 BTC and raised its price target on the shares, reflecting confidence in the treasury trajectory.

Cole also predicted bitcoin could climb above $500,000 by 2030, though he said Strive's balance sheet does not depend on that outcome. The company funds accumulation through its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock, trading under SATA, rather than debt or common-share dilution; by June it had expanded that vehicle's capacity by $4.2 billion, leaving the balance sheet with zero debt while keeping reserves for preferred dividends.

The warrants are the near-term swing factor. If ASST closes above $27 before the mid-October expiry, conversion would inject fresh capital into the treasury at a moment when Strive is already buying at a pace that would roughly double its holdings by year-end. If the shares stall below the strike, the financing lever lapses unused and the firm must fund further accumulation through its preferred-stock vehicle.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.