Strive, Semler Stocks Fall After Shareholders Approve Bitcoin Treasury Acquisition

In brief

• Semler Scientific shareholders approved the planned acquisition by Strive.
• Shares in both companies fell by double-digit percentages Tuesday, as of this writing.
• The combined company will hold 12,797.9 BTC worth $1.1 billion, making Strive the 11th-largest publicly traded Bitcoin holder.

Semler Scientific shareholders have approved the healthcare technology firm’s deal to be acquired by Strive Inc. in an all-stock transaction, which was first announced last September. When the deal is complete, Strive will become the 11th largest publicly traded holder of Bitcoin. But investors don’t seem particularly optimistic on the news. Strive shares, which trade on the Nasdaq as ASST, have plunged nearly 13% on the news. The stock recently changed hands for $0.96. Meanwhile, Semler Scientific, which trades on the Nasdaq under the SMLR ticker, has dropped about 11% on the day, recently trading for just above $20 per share. 

Semler currently has 5,048.1 BTC in its corporate treasury. When combined with Strive’s 7,626 BTC, that leaves the firm with a Bitcoin stash worth $1.1 billion at current prices. In the same press release, Strive added that it recently purchased 123 additional BTC at an average price of $91,561. Once the ink is dry, the combined company will have a bigger Bitcoin stash than Trump Media & Technology Group and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s Block, Inc. Bitcoin treasury tracking site Bitcoin Treasuries already shows Strive in the 11th spot in its ranking—having combined it and Semler’s BTC holdings—but the deal hasn’t formally closed yet.

Before becoming a Bitcoin treasury company, Semler was best known for its medical devices for combating chronic diseases, like its flagship FDA-approved QuantaFlo cardiovascular testing device. The company was an early Bitcoin adopter, becoming only the second U.S. public company to deem BTC a primary treasury reserve asset after industry leader Strategy first did it in 2020. Strive was founded in 2022 by Vivek Ramaswamy and Anson Fredericks to be an “anti-ESG” investment firm. It raised $20 million from investors including PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, Vice President JD Vance, and billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. Strive itself adopted Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset last May, while merging with Asset Entities. Just a few months later, in September, Strive announced its plans to acquire Semler.