Activist investors are now focusing on a new trend: encouraging companies to hold (or HODL, as crypto enthusiasts say) Bitcoin on their balance sheets to enhance revenue and potentially transform their operations by betting on the cryptocurrency’s longevity.
Recently, Strive Asset Management CEO Matt Cole disclosed on X that he is advocating for GameStop — the popular meme stock that has struggled to establish a consistent income source beyond game cartridges — to invest in Bitcoin.
Cole predicts that, in ten years, every significant corporation in the stock market will follow suit. He told NYNext that he intends to advise numerous companies to purchase Bitcoin within this year.
“Zombie companies that lack viability can prepare for the future by including Bitcoin on their balance sheets. My message: Invest in Bitcoin unless you have opportunities to utilize that asset in ways that will outperform Bitcoin,” Cole stated. “When companies hold cash, they typically place it in short-term treasuries or allocate it for stock buybacks or dividends… however, Bitcoin has actually increased in real purchasing power over the past few years.”
Strive was co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy in 2022 as a counterforce to ESG (environmental, social, governance) agendas. With ESG and “woke” policies receding in numerous corporations, Cole believes the upcoming major opportunity for his firm lies in convincing corporations to amass Bitcoin.
In his latest letter to GameStop, which possesses $5 billion in cash, Cole wrote, “We believe GameStop has a remarkable chance to transform its financial future by becoming the leading Bitcoin treasury firm in the gaming industry.” He has not disclosed his exact stake but claims a significant interest through multiple ETFs.
There’s a precedent for his strategy.
According to Bitcoin Treasuries, which tracks entities holding the digital asset, over 80 public companies — including Tesla and Reddit — have been accumulating Bitcoin in recent years to diversify their holdings.
The most prominent example is Michael Saylor’s software company, MicroStrategy. In 2020, it began acquiring Bitcoin, and after years of stagnant share prices, its stock has surged over 2,000%, from $10 per share to nearly $300 — significantly outperforming its software sales.
Last month, MicroStrategy revealed a rebranding: it is now known simply as Strategy, and the company has incorporated a Bitcoin symbol in its logo, signaling its unique position as a Bitcoin treasury firm.
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen recently posted a photo on X of himself with Saylor — a gesture interpreted by crypto enthusiasts as a suggestion that GameStop might emulate Strategy’s approach.
Moreover, it’s not only corporations betting on crypto. Twenty US states, including Texas and Massachusetts, have introduced legislation to establish their own Bitcoin reserves. Bhutan has started mining the cryptocurrency, and El Salvador has recognized it as legal tender. Earlier this week, President Trump reiterated his intention to establish a US crypto reserve populated with Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies.
Skeptics may question why an investor would prefer a company like Strategy over owning Bitcoin directly. For institutions, such as large wealth managers that are unable to acquire crypto due to SEC regulations, Strategy’s stock provides exposure to Bitcoin.
With few proxies available in the market right now, Cole is urging firms to act swiftly: “Now is the time to outperform.”
Whether this strategy will gain widespread traction remains uncertain. “Less than 5% of companies will adopt this in the next 12–18 months,” remarked Dan Ives, Global Head of Technology Research at WedBush Securities, during an interview with NYNext. “However, every public company will need to give serious consideration to pursuing this path.”
Ives further noted: “Saylor and MicroStrategy have altered the landscape… there isn’t a public board that hasn’t examined their actions.”
