Strategy and Strive Dominate Corporate Bitcoin Purchases Despite Broader Adoption
Two firms lead corporate Bitcoin buying despite wider adoption
Strategy and Strive have dominated corporate Bitcoin purchases this year, accounting for the majority of new coins acquired by businesses, according to a River report published Oct. 8. While more public companies are adding Bitcoin to their treasuries, the actual buying power remains concentrated in just two firms.
Bitcoin treasury company Strive bought 2,822 BTC on Oct. 12–13, a filing released Oct. 14 showed. Strategy held 848,250 BTC as of Oct. 11 after purchasing 250 BTC that week for $21.5 million.
What the numbers show
- Strategy and Strive added 197,000 BTC combined in 2026 through Oct. 5, exceeding the 193,000 BTC net increase River reported for all businesses overall.
- Conventional businesses added roughly 20,000 BTC and other Bitcoin treasury companies added about 8,000 BTC in the same period.
- Large miners sold 32,800 BTC during the period, partially offsetting corporate buying.
- Strive bought 2,822 BTC at an average price of about $83,266 per coin during Oct. 12–13.
- Strategy spent $192.4 million on preferred share buybacks in the same period it bought $21.5 million in Bitcoin.
- River reported a 10% increase over the past year in the number of public companies holding Bitcoin.
How funding choices shape buying
The way these companies raise and allocate money reveals why concentrated buying persists even as adoption spreads.
Strive reported that warrant exercises were expected to generate $369.2 million in gross proceeds around the same time as its Oct. 12–13 purchase. However, the filing did not confirm that those proceeds settled as cash, how much remained after costs, or whether the money directly funded the Bitcoin purchase.
Strategy was more explicit about its funding link. Of the $21.5 million it spent on Bitcoin between Oct. 5–11, $21 million came from net proceeds of common-share sales and $500,000 from cash on hand. In the same period, it spent $192.4 million repurchasing STRC preferred shares — money that went to security holders rather than into Bitcoin purchases.
Merger activity complicates the picture
Strive’s acquisition of Semler Scientific earlier in 2026 illustrates the difference between growth in one company’s holdings and fresh market demand.
When the merger closed Jan. 16, Strive’s consolidated holdings rose to approximately 12,797.9 BTC. About 5,048.1 BTC came from Semler’s existing holdings and did not represent a new purchase from the market. River’s published figures do not explain how it treated this transaction, making it impossible to calculate an exact share of truly fresh buying from either firm.
Why concentrated buying matters
A growing roster of corporate holders does not automatically translate into broad, sustained demand for Bitcoin. River’s data shows the number of public companies holding Bitcoin has risen 10% over the past year, but repeated purchases by a wider group would be needed to demonstrate truly diversified demand.
For now, Strategy and Strive remain the dominant force in corporate Bitcoin accumulation, while other categories of buyers contribute far less to net demand.
What remains unclear
The roughly 4,000 BTC gap between Strategy and Strive’s additions and the overall net business increase cannot be read as direct market selling by other players, since positive additions in some categories coexist with reductions in others and the totals are rounded. It also remains unclear whether Strive’s expected warrant proceeds fully funded its recent purchases.
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.