Strive Inc. reached a $1.77 billion market capitalization as its Bitcoin treasury strategy pushed shares of ASST to $19.73, above Wendy's price.
"One year ago, Strive held zero Bitcoin. Today, we own more than 1 out of every 1,000 Bitcoin that will ever exist," Matt Cole, chief executive officer at Strive, said in a post on X.
Strive bought 1,110 Bitcoin between Aug. 17 and Aug. 21 at an average price of $73,409 per coin, spending about $81.5 million, according to an Aug. 24 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The purchases lifted holdings to 21,356 BTC, worth around $1.7 billion. The firm funded the buys through at-the-market offerings and SATA preferred stock, raising its Class A share count 4.8 percent to 79,890,888 while ending the week with $171.9 million in cash.
The milestone extends a corporate treasury model pioneered by Strategy, which holds 840,447 BTC, and Japan's Metaplanet at 43,000 BTC. Bitcoin traded near $80,319 as of the Aug. 25 session, recovering from lows of $56,000 to $58,000 earlier this year, as Cole said the bull market is "just getting started."
From anti-ESG crusader to Bitcoin maximalist
Strive, co-founded in 2022 by Vivek Ramaswamy, built its name as an anti-ESG asset manager before pivoting to a Bitcoin-centric treasury. The company went public through a reverse merger with Asset Entities in September 2025, giving it the capital structure to buy Bitcoin aggressively. Accumulating more than 21,000 BTC within roughly a year of listing is an aggressive pace by any standard.
The stock has not been an easy hold. ASST lost more than 77 percent of its value over the past year, though it has climbed more than 33 percent in 2026 and nearly 72 percent in the last month. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits sits in "extremely bullish" territory, with message volumes up more than 190 percent in the past 24 hours.
The share price now trades above Wendy's, which sits in the $8 to $9 range — a comparison that captures how far investor demand for Bitcoin-backed equity has moved. For shareholders, the bet is that Strive's amplification structure converts Bitcoin's upside into outsized equity returns, a wager that hinges on the coin holding its recovery above $80,000.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.