Strive Is Poised to Break Its Own Bitcoin Buying Record and Take the No. 5 Spot

Strive is estimated to purchase roughly 2,700 bitcoin during the week ending August 28. That would break the company's open-market record of 2,500 bitcoin, set in the week reported June 2, and push holdings to about 24,050. At that level Strive passes Bullish and becomes the fifth-largest bitcoin balance sheet among public companies. The next 8-K should land Monday, August 31.

Two things drove the banner week. Bitcoin continued its meteoric rise above $80,000, before retracing below $78,000 Friday. Strive's two at-the-market programs, one on Class A common (NASDAQ:ASST) and one on the Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred (NASDAQ:SATA), both ran at full tilt into a week where common equity volume more than doubled.

1,110 Bitcoin last week and exactly where the money came from

Strive spent $81.5 million on bitcoin during the week of August 17 to 21, buying 1,110 coins at an average price of $73,409. It added $17.1 million to cash on top of that. Total deployment was $98.58 million in five sessions.

Every dollar came from the two ATMs. SATA issued 441,313 shares at the $100 floor for $44.13 million. The common ATM issued 3,646,300 Class A shares for the remaining $54.45 million, an average of $14.93 a share.

That $14.93 is the number that matters. It sits inside the week's $12.27 to $19.09 range, right around VWAP, which means the math reconciles against the filing instead of assuming anything. Strive sold into 9.26% of ASST share volume and 8.70% of dollar volume that week.

Those are the rates. This week's tape is more than twice as large.

Both programs ran hot this week

SATA raised about $117.9 million. It held par every session, and 94.3% of volume cleared the $100 floor. Thursday alone printed $50.3 million. That is roughly 1,179,000 new preferred shares in five days, against 441,313 the week before.

Common raised about $126 million. ASST volume went from 39.4 million shares to 65.6 million. In dollars the jump is bigger, $626 million to $1.41 billion, because the stock ran from $13.20 to $22.80 and touched $24.38 on August 27. At the 8.70% capture rate, that is $126 million.

Total dry powder: roughly $244 million, against $98.58 million the week before. Strive raised 2.5x more money into a bitcoin price only 8% higher.

The 18-month reserve is not a constraint here

A larger SATA float means a larger dividend obligation, and Strive holds cash and STRC against it.

Post-raise SATA outstanding reaches about 9,449,815 shares, a $945.0 million liquidation preference. At the 13% rate that is $122.9 million a year, so 18 months of coverage requires $184.3 million.

Strive reported $171.9 million in cash and $48.6 million of STRC fair value as of August 21, or $220.5 million. Against the pre-raise SATA base that was 24.6 months of coverage. Against the post-raise base it is still 21.5 months. Strive is carrying a reserve well above its own stated floor and needs no incremental cash this week to stay compliant with it.

The company has extended this cushion before. Strive brought SATA to market with 12 months of coverage and built it to 18 months of STRC plus dollars. Strategy has repeatedly lengthened its own reserve posture. Assume Strive tops up to hold the current 24.6-month posture and it sets aside roughly $31.3 million, leaving $212.6 million for bitcoin.

At the week's $79,315 average price, that buys 2,680 bitcoin.

Every case clears 2,500. The record breaks unless something outside these assumptions changes.

The leaderboard

Strive needs only 644 bitcoin to pass Bullish at 22,000. Any scenario above clears it four times over.

That leaves Strategy at 840,447, Twenty One Capital at 43,514, Metaplanet at 43,000 and MARA Holdings at 35,577 ahead of Strive, with SpaceX at 18,712 behind.

Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company holds 30,021 bitcoin and would otherwise sit above Strive. Its business combination with Cantor Equity Partners I was terminated August 20 under a Termination and Release Agreement signed by Adam Back. BSTR agreed to pay Cantor $15 million, $10 million on September 19 and $5 million on December 1, and intends to withdraw its Form S-4. The company has no current agreement to list in public equity markets. BSTR is not removed from our data, but it is skipped in the ranking until a listing path is in place. We expect BSTR to pursue another route to public markets and will update the classification when it does.

What would break this

Three things. Strive could hold back materially more cash than either historical pattern suggests, which is the live risk given management's stated preference for a fat reserve in a drawdown. Bitcoin's average purchase price could run above $79,315, which costs roughly 33 coins per $1,000 of price. And ATM capture could fall below the derived 9%, which would show up first in the SATA qualifying-volume percentage.

The Friday pro-rate is the softest input. Intraday volume can be front-loaded, so a straight time-based extrapolation of a 12:15 p.m. print could overstate the full session if volume tails off. Cut Friday's contribution by a third and the base case falls to roughly 2,560 bitcoin. The record still breaks.

Matt Cole on how far the structure can stretch

Speaking on the Bitcoin Treasuries podcast on July 22, Strive CEO Matt Cole framed the amplification question as cyclical rather than fixed. He argued that a bear market is precisely when a treasury company should let its preferred-to-bitcoin ratio run to the high end, since bitcoin is cheap on a cyclical basis, and said constraining it would cost shareholders money. He also said he is not concerned about Strive's current ratio and would be comfortable with it going higher, provided the cash reserve is maintained and SATA holders, common holders and management all stay comfortable.

Watch the full interview with Strive CEO Matt Cole

Projections derived from Strive's Form 8-K filed August 24, 2026, BSTR Holdings' Form 8-K filed August 20, 2026, Nasdaq tape data through 12:15 p.m. ET August 28, and BitcoinTreasuries.net SATA ATM capture methodology. Figures for the week ending August 28 are estimates and will be confirmed against the company's filing.