Strive CEO Declares Bitcoin Bear Market Over Following Dual Breakout
When Strive (NASDAQ: ASST) Chief Executive Officer Matt Cole declared the Bitcoin bear market over in late August, he pointed to a rare technical alignment: Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) breaking out against both the U.S. dollar and gold during the exact same week. This sentiment shift catalyzed a broader treasury rally across public equities, lifting Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) by 3% and driving Strive shares up 5% to $19.09 in early Monday trading.
The Bottom Line
- Dual Breakout Catalyst: Strive CEO Matt Cole stated his conviction that the bear market has concluded after BTC posted simultaneous upside breakouts against fiat and gold.
- Treasury Capital Deployment: Strategy disclosed raising over $2 billion through equity sales last week, parking $1.57 billion into a newly established, unrestricted USD Cash account without liquidating any of its 840,447 Bitcoin holdings.
- Divergent Sector Mechanics: While corporate treasury vehicles gain momentum from equity-financed coin accumulation, the CoinShares Bitcoin Mining and Digital Power ETF slipped 2%, underscoring a widening operational divide between miners and balance-sheet holders.
Decoding the Technical Signals Behind the Bear Market Call
Cole noted that Bitcoin reached a relative peak against gold back in December 2024 before enduring a prolonged consolidation phase, making this simultaneous breakout against traditional safe-haven assets and fiat currency a definitive structural shift.
Here is the math on current spot valuations: Bitcoin traded up 2% over a 24-hour window to $78,987.45, while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) climbed 2% to $2,508.83. For Strive specifically, the broader move higher directly addresses balance-sheet pressures. The firm holds 20,246 Bitcoin at an average cost basis of $94,345, placing the corporate treasury at an unrealized loss against current spot prices. A durable market recovery alters that math entirely.
Confidence from leadership also manifested in direct equity accumulation ahead of the announcement. Director Pierre Rochard disclosed a Form 4 SEC filing detailing an open-market purchase of 15,900 Strive shares at a weighted average price of $12.54. Because Strive stock had already advanced 48% over the preceding week through Friday’s close, Rochard’s initial direct equity buy cemented internal alignment just before the latest momentum leg.
Strategy’s $2 Billion Liquidity Play and Corporate Treasury Dynamics
But the balance sheet tells a different story regarding how corporate heavyweights fund their operations. According to an 8-K filing submitted on Monday, Strategy raised more than $2 billion last week by issuing 18,261,118 shares at a weighted average price of $109.88. Crucially, the firm executed this capital raise without selling a single satoshi of its massive 840,447 Bitcoin treasury, which was accumulated at an average cost of $75,385.
Instead of deploying every dollar directly into coin purchases, management partitioned the capital. Strategy utilized $136.4 million to repurchase preferred stock, allocated $300 million to its dollar reserve, and funneled $1.57 billion into a newly minted, unrestricted account designated as USD Cash. As of August 23, that specific cash buffer stood at $1.59 billion.
This structure affords corporate treasuries tactical agility. Unlike the existing $5.1 billion USD Reserve—which remains legally earmarked for preferred dividend distributions and debt service obligations—the new USD Cash account carries zero restrictions. This mechanism allows management to move rapidly during market dislocations without depending strictly on immediate equity issuances.
| Company / Vehicle | Ticker | Recent Stock Move | Digital Asset Holdings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strive | NASDAQ: ASST | +5% to $19.09 | 20,246 BTC |
| Strategy | NASDAQ: MSTR | +3% to $123.05 | 840,447 BTC |
| SharpLink | NASDAQ: SBET | +2% to $8.10 | 888,938 ETH (Staked) |
| Bitmine Immersion Technologies | NYSE: BMNR | +3% to $23.50 | more than 3.73 million ETH |
The Great Divergence: Treasury Vehicles Versus Mining Operations
The broader digital asset ecosystem is currently experiencing a clear operational split. While balance-sheet treasury stocks march higher on equity-fueled accumulation models, dedicated mining operations face distinct structural headwinds.
Evidence of this divergence appears in the performance of the CoinShares Bitcoin Mining and Digital Power ETF (NASDAQ: WGMI), which slid 2% to $45 and logged a 20% decline over the trailing month through Friday’s close. In contrast, corporate treasury vehicles generate flexibility by issuing equity at a Net Asset Value (NAV) premium to accumulate yield-bearing or hard-asset reserves.
Ethereum-focused entities are capturing similar structural tailwinds. SharpLink disclosed that institutional ownership expanded by 12 percentage points to reach 60%, bolstered by institutional heavyweights including Fidelity, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Vanguard, State Street, and Invesco. Having joined the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes in June, SharpLink generates ongoing returns by staking its 888,938 ETH treasury. Alongside Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR)—which maintains a balance sheet exceeding 3.73 million ETH—these firms demonstrate that yield-generating digital asset treasuries are charting a distinct course from traditional hardware-dependent miners.
As capital continues to rotate into compliant corporate wrappers, the debate over whether the bear market has definitively cleared shifts from technical speculation to balance-sheet execution. For institutional allocators monitoring the tape, the ability to raise liquidity without forced liquidations remains the ultimate metric of market health.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
