Strive says institutional custodians, not hardware wallets, guard its bitcoin

Joe Burnett of Strive, posting as @IIICapital, said the company holds its bitcoin with institutional custodians rather than hardware wallets. The remark landed after a string of crypto hacks hit the sector, according to CoinDesk, which flagged his comments on X.

Burnett drew a direct line between the hacks and how Strive stores its coins, framing third-party custody as the company's answer to a rough stretch for self-managed keys. He did not name the custodians Strive works with.

The bitcoin stash isn't doubling as a piggy bank for shareholder payouts, either. Burnett said Strive has never had to sell bitcoin to cover dividends, pointing to what he called an 18-month USD cash dividend reserve.

That reserve gives Strive more than a year of dividend coverage in dollars before any bitcoin would need to move, per Burnett's own figure. He shared no further detail on the size of the reserve or the dividend schedule.