In a pioneering move for public funds in the United States, the Wyoming State Treasury purchased 250,000 shares of Strive on March 5, 2026. This transaction marked the first time that an American public fund has directly invested in a publicly traded company holding Bitcoin reserves, signaling Wyoming’s growing embrace of digital assets as part of its financial strategy.
Details of the Strive Investment
The acquisition took place through the Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund, a key component of Wyoming’s long-term portfolio diversification efforts. Based on Strive’s closing price of $14.28 per share on the day of purchase, the investment totaled approximately $3.57 million.
Wyoming officials described the deal as the first share purchase from a company with Bitcoin reserves, underscoring the symbolic meaning of the move.
Although the sum was modest in comparison to the fund’s overall assets, Wyoming tapped newly granted authority under HB 201 legislation, which allows public funds to allocate up to 3% of assets into Bitcoin-related holdings. This share acquisition remained well below that cap and was characterized by officials as a calculated starting point rather than a dramatic shift. The focus, they noted, was on the principle behind the investment rather than its scale.
Choosing Strive Over a Bitcoin ETF
Wyoming made a distinct choice to invest in Strive, rather than opting for a spot Bitcoin ETF. While spot Bitcoin ETFs simply track Bitcoin’s price and offer no additional yield, Strive holds Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset and also generates income from its business operations. As a result, the state fund stands to benefit not only from movements in Bitcoin’s value but also from the company’s operational profits.
Strive, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, rebranded itself as a Bitcoin Treasury company following a reverse merger at the end of 2025. As of early 2026, the company holds 13,132 Bitcoins, with a market value exceeding $1.1 billion. This holding has positioned Strive as the world’s tenth largest publicly traded holder of Bitcoin. The company funds its Bitcoin acquisitions using a special SATA share structure, which pays dividends to shareholders each month.
Regulatory Landscape and Wyoming’s Digital Asset Strategy
Since 2017, Wyoming has enacted more than 50 digital asset laws, cementing its leadership in U.S. digital asset regulation. The state established a dedicated Chancery Court to handle commercial and trust cases involving digital assets. The legislation known as HB 201 paved the way for public fund investments in Bitcoin-focused assets, making this move a continuation of ongoing reforms rather than an isolated policy experiment.
Wyoming’s nearly decade-long track record of digital asset regulation has attracted a wave of crypto-focused companies to the state. The latest investment from a public fund into a Bitcoin-holding firm now puts Wyoming in the spotlight as an innovator in this field. As other U.S. states weigh whether to follow suit, Wyoming’s trailblazing role remains unmatched.
