BlackRock’s iShares ETF boosts its Strive SATA position by 133%

BlackRock’s iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF, better known by its ticker PFF, has more than doubled its stake in Strive Inc.’s Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock since June. The 133% increase brought BlackRock’s position to 236,159 SATA shares, a meaningful vote of confidence from the $10 trillion asset management giant in what amounts to a Bitcoin accumulation vehicle dressed in a preferred equity wrapper.

Strive, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, has carved out a distinct lane: issuing preferred stock that pays investors a roughly 13% annualized variable dividend, then using the proceeds to buy Bitcoin. No debt. No convertible notes. Just equity that feeds directly into BTC purchases.

How SATA actually works

The Nasdaq-listed preferred stock targets a trading range of $99 to $101 around its $100 par value, designed to behave more like a high-yield bond than a volatile growth stock. Dividends are paid daily on business days.

The instrument launched via an oversubscribed IPO in November 2025, initially raising $160 million at $80 per share. It carries no maturity date, meaning Strive has no obligation to redeem it. For US tax purposes, the dividends are classified as return of capital, a structure that can defer taxable income for holders.

By mid-September 2026, SATA’s outstanding notional value had crossed $1 billion, with approximately 10.4 million shares in circulation.

Every dollar raised through SATA issuances goes toward one thing: buying Bitcoin. During the week of September 8 through 11, Strive acquired 469 BTC at an average price of roughly $77,954 per coin, totaling approximately $36.6 million. That purchase was funded entirely through SATA proceeds.

Strive’s growing Bitcoin stack

Strive’s total Bitcoin holdings have now surpassed 25,000 BTC. The company reports a Bitcoin NAV amplification ratio of 53.5%, a metric that essentially measures how much its Bitcoin per share exceeds what raw equity contributions alone would imply.

What BlackRock’s involvement signals

BlackRock is not buying SATA because someone on the portfolio team is personally bullish on Bitcoin. PFF is a rules-based index ETF that tracks the ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index. SATA’s inclusion, and the subsequent position increase, reflects the security meeting index criteria around market cap, liquidity, and credit characteristics.

Fidelity is also among SATA’s institutional holders. The presence of both BlackRock and Fidelity in the cap table suggests that SATA has graduated from niche crypto-finance experiment to something that clears the compliance desks of major asset managers.

There is also a duration mismatch worth watching. SATA has no maturity date and pays a variable rate, which means Strive is not locked into fixed financing costs. But the asset it holds, Bitcoin, can drop 30% in a quarter. If Bitcoin enters a prolonged downturn, the amplification ratio works in reverse, and maintaining a 13% dividend on a shrinking asset base becomes a different kind of math problem entirely.