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Prominent Bitcoin commentator and Head of Business Development at Zaprite, Parker Lewis, said in a post on X that the hurdle rate for Strive is “literally the equivalent of holding bitcoin.”
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Strive CEO Matt Cole pushed back against the criticism, while owning that “Bitcoin is our hurdle rate,” and pointing out how ASST stock has outperformed BTC.
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Recently, Strive revealed in a regulatory filing that it had purchased 1,110 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 21,356 BTC.
Shares of Strive Inc. (ASST) gained more than 7.5% at close on Thursday and continued to climb higher after the company posted a strong quarterly print earlier this month and continued to shore up its Bitcoin (BTC) reserves amid its rising price.
The stock is on track to post its best monthly gains since May 2025.
However, some market participants are wary of Strive’s strategy, with prominent Bitcoin commentator and Head of Business Development at Zaprite, Parker Lewis, saying in a post on X that the “hurdle rate” for Strive is “literally the equivalent of holding bitcoin.”
Hurdle rate refers to the minimum rate of return that a company or investor must make on an investment to justify its risk and cost.
“This should concern every Strive shareholder,” Lewis said. “But there’s lots and lots of incremental risk to investing in the stock and the stock trades at a nearly 90% premium to bitcoin NAV. Sell the stock, buy bitcoin,” he added.
Strive CEO Pushes Back
Strive CEO Matt Cole pushed back against the criticism, while owning that “Bitcoin is our hurdle rate.”
In a response post on X, Cole said, “$ASST has outperformed $BTC since strategy announcement in May ’25, YTD 2026, & since Parker Lewis was diagnosed with Saylor Derangement Syndrome in June.”
“Saylor Derangement Syndrome” is a satirical term that Cole has used to describe Lewis’s septicism of Strive’s strategy. It is modeled on the term “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” another satirical term popularized by the online community that is used to claim that critics are completely blinded by the president’s irrational bias when it comes to policy decisions.
“Saylor Derangement Syndrome” is used by supporters of Strategy’s (MSTR) Michael Saylor to describe those who are seen to be excessively fixated on the CEO, his Bitcoin strategy or Strategy’s corporate treasury approach.
“Amplified Bitcoin intentionally comes with extra risk for the potential to earn excess return,” Cole concluded.
