Strive Inc., cofounded by former U.S. presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, agreed to acquire Semler Scientific Inc. in an all-stock deal, marking a new stage of consolidation among Bitcoin accumulators.
The transaction values Semler at $90.52 a share, a 210% premium to its Friday closing price of $29.18. The combined company will hold nearly 11,000 Bitcoin, according to a statement Monday.
Digital-asset treasury companies have sprung up around the world in recent months as cryptocurrency prices rose, adopting the balance-sheet strategy pioneered by Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. Strive’s deal for Semler appears to be among the first between publicly traded crypto hoarders, and it comes a week after Strive turned itself into a Bitcoin proxy.
“Strive’s merger agreement to acquire Semler Scientific just one week after becoming a public company shows a level of speed and execution not seen before in the Bitcoin treasury space,” said Matt Cole, Strive’s chairman and chief executive officer.
Cracks in the crypto treasury model have started to appear. Shares of firms like Japan’s Metaplanet Inc. have slumped as the market became inundated with new accumulators, testing some companies’ ability to fund token purchases on attractive terms.
Strive shares dropped as much as 8.1% in early trading in New York on Monday, while Semler stock jumped as much as 24% before giving up most gains.
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Strive said it has plans for “monetizing” or separating Semler’s diagnostics unit at a later date. The Dallas-based firm, which went public this month via a reverse merger with digital marketing company Asset Entities Inc., has described its goal as building a durable Bitcoin “war chest.”
Prior to its Bitcoin-hoarding announcement, Strive had become known for its asset-management business—it runs a number of exchange-traded funds, including the $1 billion Strive 500 ETF (ticker STRV), which is focused on the largest US stocks.
The company launched in 2022 with backing from billionaire investors including Peter Thiel and Bill Ackman as an antithesis to investment giants such as BlackRock Inc. Ramaswamy resigned as executive chairman in 2023, according to the firm’s website.
Semler, a medical-device maker, last year became one of the first to adopt Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset. In looking for potential uses of cash, its board and senior management decided acquiring the digital asset was the “best use of excess cash,” the company said at the time.
Semler in August reported a 43% year-over-year drop in second-quarter revenue. Its shares had fallen 46% this year through Friday.
The race to emulate Saylor’s crypto-hoarding methods has gathered pace this year, with new companies being created at a dizzying pace to accumulate Bitcoin and smaller tokens. Many of the new entrants are small firms that seemingly rebranded overnight.
