Author: Curry, Deep Tide TechFlow
On March 11, a company called Strive announced several things.
It increased its Bitcoin holdings by 179 coins, bringing its total to 13,311 BTC, worth approximately $930 million. It raised the dividend yield on its own preferred stock, SATA, to 12.75%. And, it spent $50 million to buy Strategy's preferred stock, STRC.
$50 million—that's over one-third of Strive's corporate treasury.
What does Strive do? It hoards Bitcoin. What does Strategy do? It also hoards Bitcoin.
So this became: A company that hoards Bitcoin used one-third of its money to buy stock issued by another company that hoards Bitcoin.
Strive's Chief Risk Officer, Jeff Walton, posted a tweet saying STRC is a "high-quality credit product with good liquidity and a superior risk-reward ratio compared to traditional fixed income." Translation: We think this is better than government bonds.
He even did the math, saying that if this $50 million were used to buy U.S. Treasury bonds, the annual interest would be a few million. Buying STRC could yield an extra $3.9 million annually.
It sounds like a good deal.
But think about it: Where does the money from Strategy's STRC issuance come from?
Strategy raises funds by issuing STRC and uses that money to buy Bitcoin. STRC can pay you interest, provided Strategy's Bitcoin doesn't drop too much.
So the underlying logic of Strive's investment is: My hoarded Bitcoin will rise, his hoarded Bitcoin will also rise, and only if his Bitcoin rises can he pay me interest, which I then use to buy more Bitcoin.
This isn't called diversification; it's called nesting dolls.
In Case You Didn't Know Strive
Many people know about Strategy (the former MicroStrategy), but not many know about Strive.
But now this company holds 13,311 Bitcoin, worth about $930 million, just surpassing Tesla's holdings and ranking around tenth among global publicly listed companies.
Strive's founder is Vivek Ramaswamy, a second-generation Indian immigrant, Harvard undergraduate, Yale Law School graduate. In 2022, he and a high school classmate founded Strive in Ohio, focusing on asset management and issuing ETF funds.
Early investors included PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman.
Within a year and a half of launch, its assets under management exceeded $1 billion. But Vivek didn't stay long; he resigned in early 2023 to run for U.S. President. He lost the Republican primary to Trump, and this year he switched to running for Governor of Ohio. Interestingly, both Trump and Musk showed support for him...
After Vivek left, the new CEO became Matt Cole, who previously managed $70 billion at the California Public Employees' Retirement System, coming from a traditional finance background. But last year he made a rather unconventional decision.
In September 2025, Cole announced Strive would transform from a fund company into a "Bitcoin treasury company." In one go, it spent $675 million to buy over 5,800 Bitcoin at an average price of $116,000. In the same month, it announced the acquisition of another listed company, Semler Scientific, merging to hold over 10,000 Bitcoin.
Half a year later, its holdings have now grown to 13,311 coins.
A fund company founded in 2022 transformed into one of the world's top ten corporate Bitcoin holders in just three years. The speed is so rapid it makes one ask a question:
What money was used to buy these Bitcoins?
Nesting Doll Stock Issuance
Where did Strive get the money to buy Bitcoin? It raised it by issuing stock.
Last November, Strive issued a type of preferred stock called SATA. Investors buy it, and Strive pays quarterly interest, currently at an annualized rate of 12.75%. The money raised is used by Strive to buy Bitcoin.
Strive didn't invent this playbook. The inventor is Michael Saylor.
Saylor's company, Strategy, holds over 730,000 Bitcoin, making it the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Last year, he launched a similar product called STRC. Investors buy it, Strategy pays interest, currently at an annualized 11.5%. The money raised is also used by Strategy to buy Bitcoin.
Up to this point, the two companies were playing their own games, following the same logic, unrelated.
But the transaction on March 11 connected these two lines. Strive used $50 million to buy STRC.
The chain now looks like this:
Strategy issues STRC to raise money to buy Bitcoin. Strive buys their STRC to earn interest. Strive then issues its own SATA to raise money to continue buying Bitcoin and STRC.
Layers upon layers, each layer paying investors double-digit interest, each layer's confidence to pay that interest stemming from the same thing: Bitcoin must not fall sharply.
If Bitcoin rises, everyone makes money. If Bitcoin falls, everyone's interest payments are at risk, but no single layer can stop losses independently because your asset is someone else's liability.
Three layers of products, three layers of interest, three layers of investors. Underneath it all, one asset: BTC, which must not fall.
Meanwhile, Strive's own stock, ASST, had a 52-week high of $268 and is now trading at less than $9, down 97%. On the day it announced the STRC purchase (March 11), the stock price only rose 5.52%.
At the end of October last year, ASST once fell below $0.80, nearly 50% below its net asset value in Bitcoin.
So the picture is this: A company holding $930 million worth of Bitcoin has a market capitalization of just over $500 million. Its stock price is down 97% from its high. But management is doubling down—buying more Bitcoin, buying STRC, raising the SATA dividend.
However, Strategy's own stock, MSTR, has been falling for eight consecutive months this year. Bitcoin has also pulled back significantly from last year's highs.
But everyone in this chain is increasing their bets.
Strategy bought 66,000 new Bitcoins in the first two months of this year, more than in any full year before. Strive is increasing its Bitcoin holdings while also spending $50 million on STRC. SATA's dividend yield has been raised from 10% at issuance to 12.75%. STRC's dividend yield has also been raised from 10% to 11.5%.
Rising interest rates mean it's getting harder to retain investors—they have to pay more.
Data shows that there are now over 200 publicly listed companies globally that have announced adopting the "Bitcoin treasury strategy." Before 2025, this number was less than 30.
Saylor invented a new game, and 200 companies copied the homework. Now, they're starting to buy each other's issued products.
When everyone's bet is on the same table, the difference between "structured financing" and "concentrated gambling" might just be a few extra arrows on a PowerPoint slide.
