Strive hits 25,000 BTC, funded entirely by preferred-stock sales as leverage climbs to 53.5%

Strive added 469 bitcoin last week to reach an even 25,000 BTC, worth roughly $1.95 billion at prices near $78,000, according to a Form 8-K the company filed Monday. The purchase cost $36.6 million at an average of just under $78,000 per coin.

CEO Matt Cole said 100% of the capital raised during the week came from sales of SATA, Strive's perpetual preferred stock, which has now crossed $1 billion in notional value outstanding. Alongside the buy, Strive lifted what it calls its "amplification ratio" — the ratio of notional preferred equity plus debt to bitcoin net asset value — to 53.5%. In plain terms, for every $100 of bitcoin it holds, Strive now carries about $53.50 in preferred-stock obligations and debt.

The Block, reporting the 8-K, notes the week marked a sharp slowdown: the prior week Strive bought 1,375 BTC for about $109 million. Shares of Strive's common stock, ASST, rose more than 4% in early Monday trading to a year-to-date high just under $29.

Strive is the world's fifth-largest public bitcoin holder, behind Strategy, Twenty One, Metaplanet and MARA. Cole has said the company could reach second place by year-end but explicitly noted that is not his "base case." To pass Twenty One's 43,514 BTC, Strive would need another 18,515 BTC — roughly 1,234 per week across the 15 weeks left in 2026, per The Block's math. Last week it bought 469.

Separately, Strategy left its holdings unchanged at 845,050 BTC for a second straight week, instead spending $139.3 million from cash reserves to repurchase STRC preferred shares.

Key facts

• 469 BTC added last week; total 25,000 BTC, ~$1.95B at ~$78,000 (Form 8-K; The Block).
• Purchase cost: $36.6M at avg just under $78,000/coin (Form 8-K).
• 100% of the week's capital raised via SATA perpetual preferred, now >$1B notional outstanding (Cole, per The Block).
• Amplification ratio raised to 53.5% (Strive definition, per The Block).
• Prior week: 1,375 BTC for ~$109M — a slowdown (The Block).
• ASST up >4%, YTD high just under $29 (The Block).
• Strategy unchanged at 845,050 BTC; spent $139.3M on STRC buybacks (The Block).

The real-world read

The milestone is real, but the financing is the actual story. Every dollar of last week's buy came from selling preferred stock, and Strive's own disclosed leverage now sits at 53.5% of bitcoin NAV — a figure that rises as it borrows against the stack. The "second place by year-end" narrative is Strive's own, and Cole himself waves it off as not his base case; last week's 469-coin pace is barely a third of the ~1,234/week that goal requires. The holdings, average price, notional and ratio all originate with Strive's filing and CEO — an interested party describing its own balance sheet.

Not financial advice.