Strive's chief risk officer argues its preferred equity instruments can soak up Bitcoin's downside and dampen future price swings
Bitcoin has never been accused of being boring. Strive thinks it can sell investors a version that comes closer.
Jeff Walton, chief risk officer at Strive Inc. (NASDAQ: ASST), said the company’s credit instruments can absorb Bitcoin’s downside volatility and dampen future price swings.
The pitch arrives as Strive leans into what it calls “digital credit.” These are Bitcoin-backed securities designed to pay steady income while the company’s common stock carries most of the price risk.
How Strive’s digital credit works
Strive is a Bitcoin treasury company. It holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet and builds financial products on top of that reserve.
Its newest products are perpetual preferred equity securities called SATA and SATS. Perpetual means they have no maturity date. Preferred means holders get paid before common shareholders do.
According to the research findings, SATA yields approximately 13% and SATS yields approximately 15%. Those payouts are supported by Strive’s Bitcoin holdings as collateral, along with the company’s liquid cash.
Walton indicated that roughly 13% yield goes to preferred equity holders. Meanwhile, Strive’s common equity has historically shown about 2x beta to Bitcoin.
That split is the core of Walton’s argument. The preferred layer gets predictable income, while the common layer absorbs the volatility.
A big raise and a growing Bitcoin pile
Strive raised nearly $700 million from an oversubscribed SATS offering, exceeding its $500 million target.
The company sold 7 million shares at $90 each. SATS carries a $15 annual dividend.
As of early-to-mid October 2026, the company held between 32,773 and 36,800 BTC. That total includes a recent purchase of 3,311 BTC for around $280 million.
In an interview on October 21, 2026, Walton described the potential for these Bitcoin-backed securities to unlock up to $1 trillion in institutional capital. He made that case even as spreads in credit markets were widening.
The broader strategy has been discussed as a potential $200 billion to trillion-dollar opportunity for bringing Bitcoin into traditional credit markets.
Why rated credit is the real prize
Walton emphasized the importance of moving these securities into rated credit markets.
Many large institutions can only buy securities that carry a credit rating. Pension funds, insurers and similar investors often operate under rules that keep unrated products off the menu entirely.
The appeal of the yields is obvious. Payouts of approximately 13% and 15% stand well above what traditional fixed-income investments typically offer, according to the research findings.
Strive’s case rests on transparency. Its Bitcoin reserves are observable, and the company holds liquid cash to support the securities.
What this means for investors and the market
For income-focused investors, Strive is offering exposure to Bitcoin’s balance sheet without riding Bitcoin’s full price swings. The trade-off is that preferred holders give up the upside that common shareholders keep.
For common shareholders, with roughly 2x beta to Bitcoin, the common stock is effectively the shock absorber.
Walton’s claim that these instruments can dampen future price swings is worth reading carefully. The volatility does not vanish. It gets reallocated, moved away from the preferred layer and concentrated in the common equity.
The things to watch are fairly concrete. Does Strive secure a credit rating for SATA or SATS? Does demand stay strong in future offerings? And how do the preferred securities trade during the next sharp Bitcoin sell-off?
