Strive CEO: Gold and Bitcoin May Outperform the Dollar

Strive CEO Matt Cole argues that gold and bitcoin can continue to outperform the dollar amid rising debt and expanding money supply, which undermine its purchasing power. In a thesis outlined in October 2026, he places less emphasis on borrowing costs and more on Strive's ability to increase exposure to bitcoin without risks that could undermine the strategy.

Cole compared the annual growth of gold with the growth of the US M2 money supply, which includes cash, deposits, and other liquid assets. Since 1970, gold has returned 9.0% annually compared to 6.7% for M2. The gap widened in later periods: since 2008, gold has yielded 9.5% versus 6.3% for M2, and since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, 18.3% versus 6.5%. Bitcoin's annual return since 2020 was 43.13% in the same comparison. Cole called cryptocurrency "digital gold" and a more reliable store of value, adding that he expects it to outperform gold as it matures.

At the time of writing, bitcoin was trading around $83,000, gaining over 1% in 24 hours and fluctuating in the range of approximately 80,700–82,800. The weekly loss was nearly 2% with a comparable gain over 30 days; the price is almost 23% lower than a year ago and about 34% below the all-time high above $126,000, according to CoinGecko. Bitcoin also faces the Federal Reserve meeting on October 27–28, with preliminary annual inflation expectations in the University of Michigan survey rising to 4.7% from 4.6%.

On October 13, Strive reported purchasing 3,311 BTC for the week, bringing reserves to 32,773 BTC. On October 14, the company added another 2,822 BTC, reaching 35,595 BTC worth about $2.9 billion at the current rate. Meanwhile, sentiment towards treasury companies is being tested: MSCI last week finalized rules that could exclude Strategy from its main indices, and the company's shares fell from a peak above $151 on Thursday to below $137 at Friday's close.

Cole assumes that currency devaluation will continue as the debt crisis worsens. In his view, the outperformance of scarce assets relative to the dollar may accelerate rather than slow down, although this is his investment thesis, not a guaranteed outcome. The practical challenge for Strive, he says, is to maintain a high "Amplification Ratio," meaning the company's ability to amplify bitcoin's momentum without exposing the business to dangerous financial disruptions. Cole believes that investors pay too much attention to the cost of capital and traditional fiat cash flows, missing the company's ability to support this amplification through liquidity.