Strive CEO Sees Bitcoin (BTC) at $500K–$1M by 2030, Calls $250K Peak Too Low

Strive Bets on a $1M Bitcoin

Matt Cole, chief executive of Nasdaq-listed bitcoin treasury company Strive, says the widely debated $250,000 cycle peak for Bitcoin (BTC) is too conservative, arguing the asset could trade between $500,000 and $1 million by around 2030. Cole laid out the forecast on the One Share podcast aired September 2, positioning Bitcoin as the strongest-momentum asset in financial markets and the engine of rising demand from both retail and institutional investors. Long-horizon calls of this kind are typically read against cycle models such as our Bitcoin Rainbow Chart guide, which maps where valuations sit across historical cycles.

His comments land as Strive scales its own accumulation. Company disclosures show the firm purchased 3,156 BTC in August — a sharp step up from 136 BTC in July, when Bitcoin traded in the $62,000 range — lifting total holdings to 23,156 BTC worth roughly $1.9 billion. That total pushed Strive past crypto exchange Blish last week, making it the fifth-largest public company holder of the asset and placing it firmly among corporate whale accounts. Cole framed the outperformance as a discipline story: unlike rivals that rushed into convertible bond raises during bear-market phases, Strive deliberately avoided that route, preserved financial flexibility, and later rolled out digital credit products that kept liquidity high. The result, he said, was a 60% year-to-date lead over competing bitcoin treasury companies, with more than 95% of reviewed business proposals rejected and compensation tied to shareholder outcomes. His framing echoes the long-horizon conviction associated with bitcoin maximalism.

The next test is a warrant overhang. Strive has issued more than $700 million in warrants expiring in mid-October with a $27 strike price; if the stock clears that level, up to $1.4 billion could flow into additional Bitcoin purchases and expansion of its credit products. Cole did not rule out Strive becoming the world's second-largest public Bitcoin holder by the end of 2026, though he stressed this is not the base case and depends on several conditions aligning. Current number two Twenty One Capital holds 43,514 BTC, leaving a gap of roughly 20,000 BTC to close.

Won Strength Reshapes Korean BTC Pricing

Currency markets are simultaneously repricing what those dollars are worth to holders abroad. The USD/KRW rate dropped into the 1,350-won zone on September 3 — its lowest level in one year and two months and a fresh yearly low. NH Investment & Securities published analysis on September 4 attributing the move primarily to heavier dollar selling by exporters converting strong trade earnings into won. Researcher Kwon Ah-min detailed several supply-side drivers: robust exports, dollar inflows linked to SK Hynix's US-listed ADR in July, and expected additional selling as semiconductor companies expand shareholder returns. Reduced foreign selling of Korean equities versus the first half eased upward pressure on the rate, and the government's stated intent to stabilize the currency added support. The brokerage projects a fourth-quarter average of 1,380 won per dollar.

For Korean investors the mechanism is mechanical: dollar-priced Bitcoin (BTC) converts at the daily exchange rate, so a weaker rate lowers the won-denominated price and the felt return on identical dollar gains. The same dynamic was visible when the rate last traded below 1,400, when exporter selling and expanded FX hedging drove the decline. Kwon cautioned against extrapolating: given stronger-than-expected corporate dollar supply, the short-term floor could open toward the early 1,300s — below the firm's prior view — while structural demand from retail investors buying US stocks and foreign direct investment should support the rate over the medium term. Her practical takeaway is to track the dollar price and the exchange rate together, since the same dollar figure can produce meaningfully different local returns. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on Bybit.

Two Channels, One BTC Story

Read together, the two developments show Bitcoin's price discovery now runs through two distinct channels at once. Corporate treasuries such as Strive are converting equity-market structures — warrants, credit products, strict capital discipline — into a quasi-strategic bitcoin reserve of 23,156 BTC, a decade-scale hodl bet rather than a cycle trade. Meanwhile, the NH Investment & Securities note we reviewed makes plain that local BTC prices are rewritten daily by FX flows, with corporate dollar supply now the dominant driver in Seoul. The asset is increasingly global in custody, yet its realized price remains stubbornly local — and that gap is widening.