Strive director Pierre Rochard purchased 15,900 ASST shares worth $199,386 at an average price of $12.54 on August 14. According to the SEC Form 4 filing submitted on August 18, this marked Rochard's first reported direct holding of Strive common stock through an open-market transaction. The purchase was executed outside a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, indicating a direct market acquisition rather than prearranged future transactions. Following the purchase, Rochard directly owns 15,900 ASST stocks as the board director of the Bitcoin treasury company. Rochard serves as CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company and has been vocal about Bitcoin fundamentals, predicting that "Bitcoin's fundamentals are stronger than ever" and urging investors to ignore bearish sentiment, citing its rules-based monetary design and governance.
ASST shares jumped more than 1% in premarket trading hours on Wednesday, with the stock currently trading at $12.94 as of August 19. This recovery follows Tuesday's close of $12.80, which had fallen 3.03% in the previous session. The stock opened at $12.94 and traded as high as $13.75 during Wednesday's session, extending from Strive's lower levels. The insider purchase by Rochard has slightly increased sentiment among investors, as market participants view such acquisitions as signals of confidence in the company's prospects. Rochard has also joined other Bitcoin leaders, such as Strategy's executive director Michael Saylor, in criticizing Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 (BIP-110), calling it "a demonic demoralization psyop."
Strive's SATA preferred stock traded close to $100 this week after spending much of the previous two months below par. According to the report, SATA reached $99.79 on Tuesday, its highest level in about two months, before remaining near the $100 reference price during Wednesday trading. CEO Matt Cole commented that "Bitcoin is historically cheap in this price range, and we feel constructive about taking on risk to buy more BTC here." The Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock gives holders priority for declared dividends but lacks a fixed maturity date. The recovery in SATA stock has enabled Strive to resume its Bitcoin acquisition strategy, with the company purchasing 79 BTC for approximately $5 million between August 10-14.
Strive disclosed in an August 17 Form 8-K filing that it purchased 79 BTC between August 10 and August 14 for approximately $5 million, paying an average of $63,231 per coin including fees and expenses. As reported, this transaction lifted the company's Bitcoin holdings from 20,167 BTC to 20,246 BTC. The company also reported $154.8 million in cash and cash equivalents as of August 14, down $100,000 from one week earlier. CEO Cole noted that "Strategy has only sold BTC to support STRC getting back to par so they can accretively buy BTC over the long term." The Bitcoin acquisitions are lower in volume since SATA stock dropped significantly below $100 par value, but the company remains committed to its long-term Bitcoin accumulation strategy.
Rochard serves on Strive's board and is chief executive of The Bitcoin Bond Company, making his purchase significant as a company director. According to the filing, institutional investors have also built positions, with State Street raising its Strive exposure by 770% after purchasing nearly 1 million shares valued at about $17.7 million in May. Rochard has been vocal about Bitcoin fundamentals, predicting that "Bitcoin's fundamentals are stronger than ever" and urging investors to ignore bearish sentiment, citing its rules-based monetary design and governance. Strive previously outlined plans to increase its at-the-market programs for ASST and SATA by $2.1 billion each, providing up to $4.2 billion in added capacity subject to market demand.
