Strive Posts $509 Million Q3 Profit on Bitcoin Gains as Holdings Reach 43,124 BTC

Published November 7, 2026, 1:15 PM PKT. Based on Strive, Inc.'s third-quarter 2026 earnings release of November 6, 2026, issued through GlobeNewswire and filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (primary source), as reported by CoinTelegraph, CryptoTimes and Blockchain Reporter (secondary reporting).

Strive, Inc. reported $509.0 million of net income for the third quarter of 2026, driven almost entirely by unrealized gains on the Bitcoin ($BTC) it holds, and disclosed that it bought 15,124 Bitcoin in October, taking its treasury to 43,124 coins as of October 30. The Nasdaq-listed company, which trades under the ticker ASST, is now the fourth-largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET data cited by CoinTelegraph. It trails third-place Twenty One Capital by just 390 coins and would need another 877 coins to pass second-place Metaplanet, which holds 44,000 Bitcoin, assuming neither company buys more.

The $509 million quarter

The headline number comes with a large caveat. Strive recorded a $533.7 million unrealized gain on its digital assets in the three months ended September 30, 2026, according to its earnings release, and total investment gains of $544.0 million. That gain alone is larger than the entire reported profit. The company's actual revenue for the quarter was $2.696 million, made up of $1.559 million in investment advisory fees and $1.133 million in medical device sales, plus $4,000 of other revenue. Under the accounting rules for digital-asset treasuries, Bitcoin held by a company is carried at fair value and the change in that value runs through net income, so a rising quarter flatters the bottom line and a falling quarter does the reverse.

The rest of the income statement underlines the point. Net income per common share was $5.24 on a fully diluted basis, and non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to common stockholders was $494.6 million, or $5.46 per diluted share. But for the first nine months of 2026, Strive recorded a net loss of $14.48 million, CryptoTimes reported, because the unrealized gain on digital assets over that longer period was only $9.9 million. The third quarter, in other words, rescued the year to date. Strive also reported a Bitcoin yield of 63.2% for the first nine months of 2026, 18.5% for the third quarter and 19.3% for October, its preferred measure of how fast it grows Bitcoin per share, and a Bitcoin gain of $9.00 per share year to date.

The October buying spree

The buying did not stop at the quarter end. Strive acquired 8,136 Bitcoin during the third quarter and 20,373 Bitcoin during the first nine months of 2026, the release said. It then bought an additional 15,124 Bitcoin between October 1 and October 30, bringing total purchases for the first ten months of 2026 to 35,497 coins. The October campaign followed the company's largest single purchase to date, 6,182 Bitcoin for $511 million, announced on October 26, which had already taken holdings to about 43,000 coins.

The October purchases were funded in part by preferred stock. On October 20, Strive completed a registered public offering of 7,000,000 shares of its SATS perpetual preferred stock, raising approximately $609.0 million in net proceeds after underwriting discounts and commissions, the release said. The SATS stock carries a 15% annual dividend rate and is listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol SATS. The company has not specified how much of the proceeds it will allocate to Bitcoin purchases. As of October 30, Strive held $490.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, and its position in Strategy Inc.'s variable rate perpetual preferred stock had a fair value of $50.1 million.

A profit built on paper gains

The timing of the October buys already looks awkward. Strive's October purchases were made at an average price of about $83,310 per coin, Blockchain Reporter reported, while Bitcoin was trading near $75,630 on November 6, according to CoinGecko data cited in the same report. That leaves the newest tranche under water by roughly 9% within days of the purchase. At the September 30 quarter end, the company carried about 28,000 Bitcoin at $2.34 billion, or roughly $83,578 per coin, so the mark that produced the $533.7 million gain was struck at a price Bitcoin has since fallen below.

The market did not cheer the report. Shares of Strive fell 1.97% to $20.19 in early trading on Friday, November 6, extending their decline over the past month to 32.15%, according to Yahoo Finance data cited by CoinTelegraph. The stock's slide tracks Bitcoin itself, which has fallen sharply from its October highs, and it shows the other side of the treasury model: when the coin falls, the same accounting that created a $509 million profit in one quarter can take it away in the next, and the preferred dividends, $34.2 million in the quarter, keep coming due either way.

The race for second place

The rankings make the stakes concrete. Strive's 43,124 coins put it fourth among publicly traded corporate holders, within 390 coins of Twenty One Capital and 877 of Metaplanet, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET data. Chief executive Matthew Cole said in a September interview that the company could become the world's second-largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder by year end, although he acknowledged that was not his base-case scenario, CoinTelegraph reported. In the earnings release, Cole said the company had continued to execute on its treasury strategy and that, with the recent issuance of SATS, Strive had never been in a better position to generate long-term returns in excess of Bitcoin for its common shareholders.

Strive is also looking beyond simply holding coins. The release said the company is evaluating opportunities to leverage its balance sheet, including banking, brokerage, decentralized finance, reinsurance, structured asset-backed securities and tokenization, taking into account underwriting conditions, tax implications, regulatory considerations and alignment with its broader investment objectives. Chief risk officer Jeff Walton told CoinTelegraph the company is looking beyond cryptocurrency markets for ways to put its Bitcoin holdings to work, saying some of the bigger opportunities involve crossing into traditional finance, operating as a structured finance company, and finding yield and distribution not correlated to Bitcoin or crypto. No timetable or specific product was given.

What comes next

Three things will decide whether the third quarter was a turning point or a high-water mark. The first is the price of Bitcoin ($BTC) itself: with the October tranche bought near $83,310 and the coin near $75,630 on November 6, the fourth quarter starts with the newest purchases under water, and any further decline will reverse part of the $533.7 million paper gain. The second is the ranking race: Strive needs 877 more coins to pass Metaplanet and 390 to pass Twenty One Capital, and its $490.4 million of cash plus the unallocated SATS proceeds give it the firepower to close that gap quickly if it chooses to. The third is the funding model: the SATS preferred stock pays 15% a year, so the cost of the capital that bought the October coins is high, and the company's expansion into banking and structured finance will be judged on whether it produces yield that Bitcoin alone does not. The next hard data point is the fourth-quarter filing, where the share count, the funding mix and the average purchase price will show whether the strategy is compounding or just marking time.

Sources

• Strive, Inc., third-quarter 2026 financial results, November 6, 2026 (primary source: 8,136 Bitcoin acquired in Q3, 20,373 in the first nine months, 15,124 more from October 1 to 30, GAAP net income of $509.0 million, $533.7 million unrealized gain on digital assets, total revenue of $2.696 million, SATS offering of 7,000,000 shares for about $609.0 million net proceeds on October 20, cash of $490.4 million as of October 30, Bitcoin yield of 63.2% year to date, evaluation of banking, brokerage, DeFi, reinsurance, structured ABS and tokenization; release issued through GlobeNewswire and filed with the SEC, Strive, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results)
• CoinTelegraph, Strive Nears No. 2 Bitcoin Treasury Spot After Q3 Earnings, November 6, 2026 (secondary reporting: 43,124 Bitcoin held as of October 30, fourth-largest public corporate holder per BitcoinTreasuries.NET, 390 coins behind Twenty One Capital, 877 behind Metaplanet at 44,000, Cole September interview on second place by year end, Walton quote on crossing into traditional finance, ASST down 1.97% to $20.19, down 32.15% over the past month)
• CryptoTimes, Strive Posts $509M Q3 Profit on Bitcoin Gains as ASST Stock Slips, November 6, 2026 (secondary reporting: nine-month net loss of $14.48 million, $34.2 million preferred dividends, $474.8 million net income attributable to common stockholders)
• Blockchain Reporter, Strive Q3 Profit Was A $533.7M Bitcoin Mark-Up, November 6, 2026 (secondary reporting: October purchases at an average of $83,310, Bitcoin near $75,630 on November 6, about 28,000 Bitcoin carried at $2.34 billion at quarter end)
• MABOnChain reporting, October 2026 (context: Strive's October 26 purchase of 6,182 Bitcoin for $511 million, its largest single purchase, which took holdings to about 43,000 coins)

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.