Author: Shenchao TechFlow
New MicroStrategy: How does Strive use warrants to create a crypto-buying flywheel?
Strive (ASST) stock reached $26.84 during intraday trading on September 3, just 0.6% below $27.
Behind this 0.6% lie warrants with an exercise price of approximately $27, expiring in mid-October. If ASST rises above $27, holders of these warrants will be incentivized to exercise them, potentially bringing in around $700 million in cash to the company’s balance sheet at once. Matt Cole noted that behind this $700 million lies an additional $700 million in digital credit financing capacity. A potential $1.4 billion in buying power is locked behind a single price level.
First, let’s look at what Strive has done. SEC filings show that the company purchased an additional 1,800 BTC between August 24 and 28 at an average price of approximately $79,431, bringing its total holdings to 23,156 BTC. According to Bitcoin Treasuries’ ranking, Strive is currently ranked fifth globally, behind Strategy (843,775 BTC), Twenty One Capital (43,514 BTC), Metaplanet (~43,000 BTC), and MARA Holdings (~36,300 BTC).
CEO Matt Cole said on the One Share podcast on September 3 that Strive could become the world's second-largest corporate holder of bitcoin by the end of 2026.
What truly deserves unpacking is how Cole’s capital structure made this ambition mathematically possible.
Warrant Flywheel
The stock price of a publicly traded company is typically seen as a reflection of its operational performance, but Strive’s logic is the opposite.
Its core financing mechanism is a self-reinforcing cycle: ASST stock price approaches $27 → warrant holders choose to exercise → the company receives cash → cash buys BTC → BTC holdings and market ranking increase → the market revalues its BTC reserves and financing capacity → stock price rises further → more warrants are exercised.
This is Strive’s capital structure chart. Cole framed this matchup on the podcast as "shorts versus warrant holders," and he made no secret of his position: he wants the warrants to be exercised, not to expire worthless. Given that ASST’s current short interest is around 30% of the float, the intensity of this matchup could escalate sharply over the next six weeks.
This mechanism presents an interesting contrast to the path taken by Strategy (MicroStrategy).
The strategy relies on convertible bonds and ATM stock offerings. Convertible bonds have maturity dates, conversion prices, and interest costs; if Bitcoin experiences a sharp decline, the company may face repayment pressure when the bonds mature. Strategy’s scale (843,775 BTC) provides a systemically important buffer, but its financing structure embeds maturity risk.
Strive has taken a completely different path. Its capital structure consists of only two securities: common stock ASST and perpetual preferred stock SATA. There are no convertible bonds, no senior debt, and no maturity dates.
SATA trades on Nasdaq at a $100 par value, offering an annualized dividend yield of 13%, distributed daily on business days starting June 16, 2026, becoming the first U.S.-listed security to provide daily cash dividends. When SATA’s market price exceeds its par value, the company issues new shares through an ATM program, with proceeds directly used to purchase Bitcoin.
The two sides of the transaction are clear: SATA investors receive a daily 13% annualized cash yield, while Strive obtains perpetual capital with no maturity date. Cole’s 15 years of experience managing a $70 billion fixed-income portfolio at CalPERS have been fully integrated into this structure.
The key difference lies in the risk transmission pathway. Holders of Strategy’s convertible bonds have the right to demand cash repayment of principal at maturity, creating liquidity pressure on the company during Bitcoin downturns. Strive’s perpetual preferred shares have no maturity date and no mandatory redemption clause; in the worst-case scenario, the board can adjust the dividend rate. The repayment pressure shifts from “must repay on a specific day” to “pay a small amount of interest daily.”
Math problems from fifth to second
23,156 coins, a difference of 20,358 coins from Twenty One Capital’s 43,514 coins in second place.
At the current average price of approximately $80,000, filling this gap requires about $1.6 billion. The potential buying power of $1.4 billion (from $700 million in warrant exercises and $700 million in digital credit) is mathematically close. With 17 weeks remaining in 2026, approximately 1,200 BTC need to be purchased per week on average. Strive bought 3,156 BTC throughout August, equivalent to about 790 BTC per week.
Cole did not provide a roadmap to reach second place; he merely showcased the capital tools to get there. This in itself is a signal: in the competition among BTC treasury companies, the size of the arsenal matters more than current holdings in determining market expectations.
But this flywheel has a visible vulnerability.
If ASST cannot stabilize above $27 by mid-October, $700 million in warrants will expire worthless. Without warrant exercise, there is no cash inflow. Without cash inflow, there is no next large-scale coin purchase. Without large-scale coin purchases, the ranking narrative collapses, and the stock loses its story-driven support. When the flywheel reverses, it spins just as fast.
Cole certainly understands this. In the podcast, he used one word to describe the outcome if the warrants are successfully exercised: "electric finish." Translating this with a trader’s intuition: he’s drawing a call option payoff curve for the market. Below $27, Strive survives but doesn’t leap; above $27, everything accelerates.
30% short vs. $700 million in strikes: six-week countdown
Approximately 30% of ASST's circulating supply has been borrowed for short selling, a level that is extreme in public markets.
The short sellers' logic is not hard to understand: Strive has no substantive business operations; its holding of 23,156 BTC corresponds to a market cap of approximately $1.85 billion, the vast majority of which is simply the value of Bitcoin itself. The stock's premium depends on market confidence in its ability to continue raising funds. If Bitcoin's price drops sharply or the warrants expire unexercised, this confidence could evaporate quickly.
The bulls' logic is equally clear: if ASST breaks and holds above $27 within six weeks, the exercise of $700 million in warrants will trigger a passive buying event for BTC. Shorts will need to borrow more shares to maintain their positions, while warrant exercise will release a large number of new shares into circulation—this clash of forces could generate significant price volatility.
This is not a trade based on guessing fundamentals; it is a structured博弈 with clear triggering conditions and a defined time window. Mid-October is when the answer will be revealed.
For the entire BTC treasury赛道, Strive’s case reveals a fact that capital markets are rapidly learning: in this game, innovation in financing structures matters far more than predicting coin prices.
Strategy pioneered a paradigm using convertible bonds; Strive pushed this paradigm to a more extreme version using perpetual preferred shares and warrant flywheels. The next evolution depends on how much capital is willing to bet on the idea that "stock price is a financing tool, not a result."
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitpushNewsCN
BitPush Telegram community: https://t.me/BitPushCommunity
BitPush TG subscription: https://t.me/bitpush