Strive CEO Matt Cole Says Amplification Ratio Tops Capital Costs

Strive CEO Matt Cole says the company’s amplification ratio — preferred stock and debt measured against the market value of its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings — matters more than capital costs as it seeks to outperform Bitcoin.

Cole cited gold’s annualized growth at 9.0% since 1970, compared with 6.7% for the U.S. M2 money supply. From the global financial crisis onward, he put gold’s growth at 9.5% and M2’s at 6.3%. Since the pandemic, his figures were 18.3% for gold and 6.5% for M2. Gold outpaced M2 in each period he cited, with the widest gap in the pandemic-era comparison.

Cole argued that persistent monetary debasement and worsening debt crises would increase scarce assets’ relative returns against the dollar. He cast Strive’s approach as long Bitcoin and short the dollar. He also described Bitcoin as a stronger store of value than gold that remains early in its development, and said it could outperform gold as it matures.

For Strive, Cole said the amplification ratio is the key measure for judging whether the company can outperform Bitcoin. Cole has previously set a 60% amplification ratio target for Strive.

Cole said building and maintaining a high ratio without liquidation is difficult. Separately, he described high amplification and high liquidity together as a moat for Strive. He criticized investors who focus heavily on financing costs and cash flows in fiat currencies, arguing that they overlook the effect of monetary debasement.

Strive’s latest disclosed purchase added 2,822 BTC for $235 million, bringing its holdings to 35,595 BTC.