Crypto majors are in the red in New York morning trade after Bitcoin pulled back below the 100,000 level.
We saw that crypto major below 95,000 right now we are looking at it holding above 96,000.
Now Stripe is bolstering its bet on Bitcoin.
The company has added 1,567 Bitcoin at an average price of above 103,000, bringing its total holdings to 7,525 Bitcoin as of November 10th of this year.
Now the move does come as Strive debuts at a variable rate perpetual.
Preferred stock design to amplify its Bitcoin exposure.
Well joining me on this Friday morning is Strive Chairman and CEO Matt Cole.
Matt, good morning.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
So first and foremost, there's been a lot of volatility across the markets, not just crypto, but also equity as well.
So tell us what you think is going on when it comes to crypto.
Yeah, so, so crypto and Bitcoin specifically is a long duration asset.
It's never had a single 4 year period in its history where it's had a negative return.
But within that history is substantial volatility, and you expect that as someone in the Bitcoin industry.
And so today we have prices under $100,000 and you know, for Bitcoiners this is a by the dip opportunity, right?
This is, this is what we, what we live for and understand that as a long duration asset.
The long term view is still as positive as it's ever been, and that's what we're trying to do at Strive.
That's why we designed an IPOEA, which is a perpetual preferred equity.
It's an infinite duration liability, digital credit to pair with the infinite duration asset of Bitcoin.
And so we can ride out these, these downward movements with no problem and wait for better times over the next several years.
So Matt, you just told us about the Bitcoin accumulation through preferred equity.
So with 12% variable dividend as well as targeted trading range, how does drive and how do you plan to balance yield stability with Bitcoin's inherent volatility?
Yes, so the idea here is we have two securities.
Our common equity ASST is designed to be amplified Bitcoin.
So to the upside and to the downside, you would expect ASST to have more volatility than Bitcoin.
And if the future returns of Bitcoin are greater than 10%, our view is that you know over the next, call it 10 to 20 years, it'll average a 30% plus cagger on average that that difference in Financing costs versus the return of Bitcoin will accrue to the common equity holders.
For the holders of CETA, our preferred equity instrument, they get stripped down volatility, so less volatility than Bitcoin with a variable rate dividend right now was at 12%, and it's been received very well.
When we IPOed it, we initially were going out with 125 million.
We we upsized it to 200 million notional.
The price talk was initially 75 to 80.
Price at the higher end of the range, it was still two times oversubscribed, and this is the first week it's been trading on Nasdaq, and it's right around 9495 as we speak.
And so it's been received extremely well by the market and what you're seeing is the demand for digital credit that people want income that the income that's given to them by treasuries, they get debased faster than the rate of money printing and with with Bitcoin-backed digital credit, you can actually flip that.
And allow people that want income that want money to actually accrue an attractive return with less volatility than the underlying asset, and then that volatility moves to the common equity ASST, which for Bitcoin bulls is also a great thing.
Yeah, and for the layperson out there who's watching this right now, can you tell us what Strife's Bitcoin amplification toggle actually means in practice, and can you walk us through how it is different from, say, other digital treasuries out there such as strategy?
Yeah, so, so Strive is unique in the sense that we are the only Bitcoin treasury company that has 100% of its amplification to perpetual preferred equity.
So what is amplification?
It's combining leverage and perpetual preferred equity, so most digital credit companies have their amplification through debt, which means that they have to make sure that they meet a liability at any given date in the future.
Many of them have to post Bitcoin as collateral, so as Bitcoin's going down, they have to maintain and increase the amount of Bitcoin that's held in a collateral account, so they're getting margin calls.
We have no encumbered Bitcoin.
Bitcoin could literally.
Fall to $1 tomorrow and we won't be liquidated.
Our bet is on is that Bitcoin over the long run will go up substantially.
And if that if that bet is accurate, then that value will accrue to our common equity holders.
And so it's really just a better form of amplification by not using leverage but actually using equity in the in the sense of perpetual preferred equity to give yourself the ability to ride out the volatility of Bitcoin.
And zoom out and we say zoom out a lot because like we said, Bitcoin's never had a 4 year period with a negative return, but it has had many 1 year periods, many 1 month periods, many 1 week periods where it goes down a lot as it's going up over time, and you have to make sure that you can ride out that volatility.
And so we intentionally designed Seta and ASST to be able to do that.
Yeah, and finally, Matt, before I let you go, we are counting down to the end of 2025 and looking ahead to the new year.
So the longest US government shutdown in history has come to an end, but given the regulatory outlook for the digital asset landscape, what are you looking forward to and what are your expectations?
Yeah, I think the regulatory outlook has been substantially cleared.
It's still being priced into the markets.
Obviously right after Trump got reelected last year, Bitcoin went up substantially.
This year has had a year of pretty heavy insider selling of Bitcoin, but I think that ultimately works through.
And the long term outlook for Bitcoin has never been more positive.
That regulatory overhang used to be the biggest negative for Bitcoin, and I think we're moving into an AI era, and I think AI is going to carry the markets in 2026 forward, and I think a lot of value will accrue to Bitcoin over the next 1 to 2 years.
I think the outlook.
Over the short term for November and December, your guess is as good as mine.
Bitcoin is a volatile asset, but I do think that we're forming a solid base here around the call it $90,000 to $110,000 range.
It might take a little bit of time to work through, but when it does work through, I think they're the sky is the limit to where Bitcoin can go over the next couple of years.
Well, Matt, always great talking to you.
Thank you so much for joining us on this Friday morning and as always, thank you so much for sharing all of your insights.
Thanks, Remy.
