How Bitcoin Can Pay You 15% Forever

Matt Cole argues that Strive is building around a permanent short on the U.S. dollar, using perpetual preferred equity to pay investors a dividend forever while backing the structure with Bitcoin. He says the firm’s goal is to offer 13% and 15% yields, and that if Bitcoin rises faster than fiat debasement, common equity holders capture the upside after preferred dividends are covered. The core pitch is that Bitcoin should be treated as the hurdle rate, not U.S. Treasuries or traditional benchmarks.

He says the biggest risk is Bitcoin’s volatility, so Strive keeps roughly 10% to 15% of assets in cash and believes it can underwrite an 80% Bitcoin drawdown without selling core holdings. Cole also says investor demand led Strive to launch a second preferred with a fixed, perpetual yield, because some buyers wanted certainty rather than a floating rate that might fall over time.

Cole frames digital credit as an emerging category that could expand beyond a few issuers. He thinks institutional adoption will often happen through mandates, with Bitcoin exposure arriving via preferreds or operating companies when spot Bitcoin is unavailable. He also sees the ETF business as still strategically useful, but much smaller than the Bitcoin-focused financing strategy.