Strive, an asset manager founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, asked United States regulators for permission to list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) investing in convertible bonds issued by MicroStrategy and other corporate Bitcoin buyers, according to a Dec. 26 filing.
The ETF seeks to offer exposure to “Bitcoin Bonds,” described as “convertible securities issued by MicroStrategy” or by other companies that plan to “invest all or a significant portion of the proceeds to purchase Bitcoin,” according to the filing.
The Strive Bitcoin Bond ETF will be actively managed and will gain exposure to Bitcoin bonds either directly or through financial derivatives such as swaps and options, Strive said.
Strive has not yet specified the management fees investors will be charged, but actively managed funds typically charge more than passive index funds.
Entities holding Bitcoin in their treasuries. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET
Bitcoin bonds
Beginning in 2020, MicroStrategy has spent about $27 billion buying Bitcoin
BTC
tickers down
$94,706
as part of a corporate treasury strategy spearheaded by co-founder Michael Saylor.
Its stock, MSTR, has since gained more than 2,200%, outperforming practically every sizeable public company except Nvidia.
MicroStrategy has financed its buys by issuing a mixture of new stock and convertible bonds. Its bonds pay low or no interest but may convert to MSTR shares under certain conditions.
Other companies have followed suit. Corporate treasuries now hold about $56 billion worth of BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET.NET.