NASDAQ: SATA
Strive, Inc.CIK 0001920406 · Finance Services
Strive is a structured finance company and institutional asset manager focused on disciplined capital allocation and long term value creation. We have strategically adopted bitcoin as our hurdle rate for capital deployment because of our fiduciary duty to maximize long-term value for stockholders,… About this business →
Strive buys 1,109 bitcoin for $85M, issues 2.2M shares and 515K preferred stock
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Strive buys 382 bitcoin for $30M, now holds 15,391 BTC worth over $1.2B
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About Strive, Inc.
Source: Item 1 (Business) from the 10-K filed March 19, 2026. Description as filed by the company with the SEC.
Item 1. Business
Overview
Strive is a structured finance company and institutional asset manager focused on disciplined capital allocation and long term value creation. We have strategically adopted bitcoin as our hurdle rate for capital deployment because of our fiduciary duty to maximize long-term value for stockholders, and compounding purchasing power over time. Relative to a traditional depreciating fiat-denominated benchmark, implementing a bitcoin hurdle rate establishes a higher level of accountability and strategic investment discipline, since our decisions are measured against an asset we believe will appreciate over time.
Strive’s operating business generates stockholder value through disciplined balance sheet management and the growth of our bitcoin holdings. Our SATA Stock exemplifies this approach, a publicly traded security that aims to provide investors with consistent cash flows and minimal volatility, while enabling Strive to capture the spread between SATA Stock’s financing cost and the potential long term return of bitcoin.
Beyond balance sheet strategy, Strive is focused on advancing innovation within the capital markets by modernizing established financing structures. The Company has developed our SATA Stock, our perpetual preferred equity instrument, that incorporates an at‑the‑market (“ATM”) program, creating a flexible and continuous capital formation mechanism. This approach transforms a historically static capital structure into a dynamic and adaptive capital funding platform. Through these innovations, Strive seeks to combine legacy market frameworks with modern assets, positioning the Company at the intersection of institutional finance and a bitcoin‑based reserve strategy.
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Following the completion of Strive Enterprises, Inc.’s reverse acquisition of Asset Entities Inc. on September 12, 2025, Strive began operating as a publicly traded company and began deploying capital to execute on its bitcoin treasury strategy, becoming the first U.S. publicly traded bitcoin treasury asset management firm. As of December 31, 2025, the Company managed over $2.4 billion in assets under management (“AUM”). These activities provide recurring, fee-based revenue streams which increase with AUM. Beginning in fiscal year 2026, we plan to operate our asset-management segment within a single-digit-million dollar operating loss to single-digit-million dollar operating profit range.
On September 22, 2025, Strive, Inc. entered into that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Semler Scientific Merger Agreement") with Semler Scientific. On January 16, 2026, pursuant to the Semler Scientific Merger Agreement, Strive Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Strive merged with and into Semler Scientific, with Semler Scientific continuing as the surviving corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Strive. Through the acquisition of Semler Scientific, Strive acquired Semler Scientific's existing bitcoin reserve as well as Semler Scientific's operating business, which develops and markets technology products and services that assist customers in evaluating and treating chronic diseases.
Our Bitcoin Strategy
Our bitcoin strategy generally involves, from time to time, subject to market conditions and the need for cash and cash equivalents to meet short-term working capital requirements, (i) acquiring bitcoin through open market purchases using available cash, which may be raised from our operating activities as well as capital raising initiatives, such as issuing equity and fixed income offerings, among other capital raise strategies (collectively, “beta” initiatives) and (ii) acquiring bitcoin through alpha strategies, such as acquiring bitcoin through strategic M&A activity or other transactions, resulting in the acquisition of bitcoin at a discount relative to market value, which are intended to deliver returns above and beyond what beta initiatives may deliver alone.
Our Bitcoin Holdings
In 2025, we acquired a total of approximately 7,627 bitcoin at an aggregate acquisition cost of approximately $863.0 million, or $113,153 per bitcoin, including fees and expenses. During the period from January 1, 2026 to March 17, 2026, we acquired approximately 5,048 bitcoin through our acquisition of Semler Scientific and purchased an additional 953 bitcoin at an average price of approximately $81,092 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses. Consistent with our long-term holding strategy, we have not sold any bitcoin to date. In addition, in March 2026, we made an initial investment of $50.0 million in the Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (the "STRC Stock") of Strategy Inc.
As of December 31, 2025, our digital assets, at fair value totaled approximately $668.5 million within our consolidated statement of financial condition, consisting of approximately 7,627 bitcoin. We also held $67.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, putting us in a position to strategically deploy capital to bolster our treasury. As of March 17, 2026, our cash
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and cash equivalents totaled $83.7 million, while our position in the STRC Stock had a fair value of $50.4 million. Our bitcoin treasury totaled 13,628 bitcoin as of March 17, 2026.
Overview of the Bitcoin Industry and Market
Bitcoin is a digital asset that is issued by and transmitted through an open-source protocol, known as the Bitcoin protocol, collectively maintained by a peer-to-peer network of individual, decentralized network participants called "nodes." This network hosts a public transaction ledger, known as the Bitcoin blockchain, on which bitcoin holdings and all validated transactions that have ever taken place on the bitcoin network are recorded. Balances of bitcoin are stored in individual “wallets”, which associate network public addresses with one or more “private keys” that control the transfer of bitcoin. The Bitcoin blockchain can be updated without any single entity owning or operating the network.
Creation of New Bitcoin and Limits on Supply
The bitcoin protocol limits the total number of bitcoin that can be generated over time to 21 million. New bitcoin is created and allocated by the Bitcoin protocol through a “mining” process that rewards users that validate transactions in the bitcoin blockchain. Validated transactions are added in “blocks” approximately every 10 minutes. The mining process serves to validate transactions and secure the bitcoin network. Mining is a competitive and costly operation that requires a large amount of computational power to solve complex mathematical algorithms. This expenditure of computing power is known as “proof of work.” To incentivize miners to incur the costs of mining bitcoin, the Bitcoin protocol rewards miners that successfully validate a block of transactions with newly generated bitcoin.
Modifications to the Bitcoin Protocol
Bitcoin is an open-source network that has no central authority, meaning that no one person can unilaterally make changes to the software that runs the network. However, there is a core group of developers that maintains the code for the Bitcoin protocol, and this group can propose changes to the source code and release periodic updates and other changes. Unlike most software that has a central entity that can push updates to users, bitcoin is a peer-to-peer network in which the nodes decide whether to upgrade the software and accept the new changes. As a practical matter, a modification becomes part of the Bitcoin protocol only if the proposed changes are accepted by participants collectively having more than 50% of the processing power, known as "hash rate", on the network. If a certain percentage of the nodes reject the changes, then a “fork” takes place, and participants can choose the version of the software they want to run.
Forms of Attack Against the Bitcoin Network and Wallets
Blockchain technology has many built-in security features that make it difficult for hackers and other malicious actors to corrupt the protocol or blockchain. However, as with any computer network, the Bitcoin network may be subject to certain attacks. Some forms of attack include unauthorized access to wallets that hold bitcoin and direct attacks, like “51% attacks” or “denial-of-service attacks” on the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin is controllable only by the possessor of both the unique public key and private key(s) relating to the local or online digital wallet in which the bitcoin is held. Private keys used to access bitcoin balances are not widely distributed and are typically held on hardware (which can be physically controlled by the holder or by a third party, such as a custodian) or via software programs on third-party servers. One form of obtaining unauthorized access to a wallet occurs following a phishing attack where the attacker deceives the victim and manipulates them into sharing their private keys for their digital wallet or other sensitive information. Other similar attacks may also result in the loss of private keys, which may cause the victim to effectively lose the corresponding bitcoin because the victim can no longer access their digital wallet.
A “51% attack” may occur when a group of miners attain more than 50% of the Bitcoin network’s mining power, thereby enabling them to control the Bitcoin network and protocol and manipulate the blockchain. A “denial-of-service attack” occurs when legitimate users are unable to access information systems, devices, or other network resources due to the actions of a malicious actor flooding the network with traffic until the network is unable to respond or crashes. The Bitcoin network has been, and can be in the future, subject to denial-of-service attacks, which can result in temporary delays in block creation and in the transfer of bitcoin.
Bitcoin Industry Participants
The primary bitcoin industry participants are miners, investors and traders, digital asset exchanges, and service providers, including custodians, brokers, payment processors, wallet providers, and financial institutions.
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Miners. Miners range from bitcoin enthusiasts to professional mining operations that design and build dedicated mining machines and data centers, including mining pools, which are groups of miners that act cohesively and combine their processing power to mine bitcoin blocks.
Investors and Traders. Bitcoin investors and traders include individuals and institutional investors who, directly or indirectly, purchase, hold, and sell bitcoin or bitcoin-based derivatives, including bitcoin exchange-traded products. Exchange-traded products ("ETPs") can be bought and sold on a stock exchange like traditional stocks and provide investors with another means of gaining economic exposure to bitcoin through traditional brokerage accounts.
Digital Asset Exchanges. Digital asset exchanges provide trading venues for purchases and sales of bitcoin in exchange for fiat or other digital assets. Bitcoin can be exchanged for fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, at rates of exchange determined by market forces on bitcoin trading platforms, which are not regulated in the same manner as traditional securities exchanges. In addition to these platforms, over-the-counter markets and derivatives markets for bitcoin also exist. The value of bitcoin within the market is determined, in part, by the supply of and demand for bitcoin in the global bitcoin market, market expectations for the adoption of bitcoin as a store of value, the number of merchants that accept bitcoin as a form of payment, and the volume of peer-to-peer transactions, among other factors.
Service Providers. Service providers offer a multitude of services to other participants in the bitcoin industry, including custodial and trade execution services, commercial and retail payment processing, loans secured by bitcoin collateral, and financial advisory services. Given the continued widespread adoption of the Bitcoin network, the range of service and number of service providers continue to increase.
Other Digital Assets
As of the date of this Annual Report, bitcoin was the largest digital asset by market capitalization. However, numerous alternative digital assets exist, and many entities, including consortia and financial institutions, are actively researching and investing resources in blockchain platforms and digital assets that utilize consensus mechanisms other than proof-of-work mining, which is employed by the Bitcoin network. For example, in late 2022, the Ethereum network transitioned to a “proof-of-stake” mechanism for validating transactions that requires significantly less computing power than proof-of-work mining. Other alternative digital assets that compete with bitcoin in certain ways include “stablecoins,” which are designed to maintain a constant price because of their issuers’ promise to hold high-quality liquid assets (such as U.S. dollar deposits and short-term U.S. treasury securities) equal to the total value of stablecoins in circulation. Stablecoins have grown rapidly as an alternative to bitcoin and other digital assets as a medium of exchange and store of value, particularly on digital asset trading platforms.
Additionally, central banks in some countries have started to introduce digital forms of legal tender. For example, China’s central bank digital currency (“CBDC”) project was made available to consumers in January 2022, and governments including the United States and the European Union have discussed the potential creation of new CBDCs.
Competition
Our bitcoin strategy generally involves from time to time, subject to market conditions, (i) issuing debt or equity securities or engaging in other capital raising transactions with the objective of using the proceeds to purchase bitcoin and bitcoin-related products or engage in other opportunistic transactions to acquire bitcoin and bitcoin-related products and (ii) acquiring bitcoin with our liquid assets that exceed working capital requirements. When we engage in such capital raising transactions, we compete for capital with, among others, ETPs, bitcoin miners, digital assets exchanges, other digital assets service providers, other companies that hold bitcoin or other digital assets as treasury reserve assets, private funds that invest in bitcoin and other digital assets, and similar vehicles. An increase in the competition for sources of capital could adversely affect the availability and cost of financing for our bitcoin purchases, and thereby could adversely affect the market price of our listed securities.
Custody of our Bitcoin
We currently hold and intend to continue to hold all of our bitcoin in custodial accounts at U.S.-based, institutional-grade custodians (who may hold our bitcoin in the United States or other territories) that have demonstrated records of regulatory compliance and information security. Our custodians may also serve as liquidity providers. We engage with multiple custodians to diversify our potential risk exposure to any one custodian. Our custodial services contracts do not restrict our ability to reallocate our bitcoin among our custodians, and our bitcoin holdings may be concentrated with a single custodian from time to time. In light of the significant amount of bitcoin we hold, we continually seek to engage additional digital asset custodians to further diversify the custody of our bitcoin.
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We carefully select the custodians that custody our bitcoin after undertaking a due diligence process. As part of our custodian selection process, we evaluate and select custodians that can demonstrate that they operate with strict security protocols, including multifactor authentication procedures designed to safekeep our bitcoin. In addition, our custodial services agreements generally specify that the private keys that control our bitcoin will be held in offline or “cold” storage, which is designed to mitigate risks that a system may be susceptible to when connected to the internet, including the risks associated with unauthorized network access and cyberattacks. We also conduct due diligence reviews during the custodial relationship to monitor the safekeeping of our bitcoin. As part of our process, we obtain and review our custodians’ Services Organization Controls reports.
Our custodians have access to the private key information associated with our bitcoin, or private keys, and they deploy security measures to secure our bitcoin holdings such as advanced encryption technologies, multi-factor identification, and a policy of storing our private keys in redundant, secure and geographically dispersed facilities. We never store, view or directly access our private keys. The operational procedures of our custodians are reviewed periodically by third-party advisors. All movement of our bitcoin by our custodians is coordinated and monitored. Additionally, we routinely verify our bitcoin holdings by reconciling our custodial service ledgers to the public blockchain.
Potential Advantages and Disadvantages of Holding Bitcoin
We believe that bitcoin is an attractive asset because it can serve as a store of value, supported by a robust and public open-source architecture, that is untethered to sovereign monetary policy. We also believe that, due to its limited supply, bitcoin offers the potential to serve as a hedge against inflation in the long-term and, if its adoption increases, the opportunity for appreciation in value.
Bitcoin exists entirely in electronic form, as virtually irreversible public transaction ledger entries on the blockchain, and transactions in bitcoin are recorded and authenticated not by a central repository, but by a decentralized peer-to-peer network. This decentralization mitigates the risks of certain threats common to centralized computer networks, such as denial-of-service attacks, and reduces the dependency of the bitcoin network on any single system. The decentralization of user nodes and miners also mitigates the risk of a 51% attack, which would be very costly and difficult to execute with respect to bitcoin because the Bitcoin network is open source and widely distributed, and transactions on the blockchain require significant computing power to be validated. However, while the Bitcoin network as a whole is decentralized, the private keys used to access bitcoin balances are not widely distributed and are susceptible to phishing and other attacks designed to obtain sensitive information or gain access to password-protected systems. Loss of such private keys can result in an inability to access, and effective loss of, the corresponding bitcoin. Consequently, bitcoin holdings are susceptible to all of the risks inherent in holding any electronic data, such as power failure, data corruption, security breach, communication failure and user error, among others. These risks, in turn, make bitcoin substantially more susceptible to theft, destruction, or loss of value from hackers, corruption, viruses and other technology-specific factors as compared to conventional fiat currency or other conventional financial assets.
In addition, the Bitcoin network relies on open-source developers to maintain and improve the Bitcoin protocol. Accordingly, bitcoin may be subject to protocol design changes, governance disputes such as “forked” protocols, competing protocols, and other open source-specific risks that do not affect conventional proprietary software.
Our Healthcare Technology Solutions Products and Services
Our subsidiary, Semler Scientific, currently markets a patented and FDA-cleared, vascular testing product, QuantaFlo. QuantaFlo is a four-minute in-office blood flow test that features a sensor clamp placed on the toe and finger. Infrared light emitted from the clamp on the dorsal surface of the digit is scattered and reflected by the red blood cells coursing through the area of illumination. Returning light is ‘sensed’ by the sensor. A blood flow waveform is instantaneously constructed by our proprietary software algorithm. Semler Scientific primarily utilizes a license model rather than an outright sales model for QuantaFlo. Semler Scientific has placed its QuantaFlo product with healthcare insurance plans, integrated delivery networks, independent physician groups, hospitals and companies contracting with the healthcare industry such as risk assessment groups and retailers in addition to doctors’ offices. Semler Scientific previously reported that it is experiencing and expects to continue to experience decreased usage of its QuantaFlo device due various factors, including the 2024 Medicare Advantage and Part D Final Rate Announcement issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”). Semler Scientific manufactures its product, QuantaFlo, in the United States through independent contractors whom it pays for finished goods.
Intellectual Property
We use various methods to establish and protect our intellectual property, and rely on intellectual property laws in the United States and other countries, along with contractual measures to do so.
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We own numerous trademarks (under common law, pending US Trademark applications, and a federally registered trademark for STRIVE), proprietary research, and copyrightable educational content distributed through our corporate digital channels. We protect intellectual-property rights via trademark registrations, confidentiality agreements, and strict access controls. We do not rely on patented technology for our core business. For our healthcare business, we have been issued one patent for Semler Scientific’s apparatus, U.S. Patent No. 7,628,760, which expires December 11, 2027.
Government Regulation
Bitcoin Regulation
The laws and regulations applicable to bitcoin and digital assets are evolving and subject to interpretation and change.
Governments around the world have reacted differently to digital assets; certain governments have deemed them illegal, and others have allowed their use and trade without restriction, while in some jurisdictions, such as the U.S., digital assets are subject to overlapping, uncertain and evolving regulatory requirements.
As digital assets have grown in both popularity and market size, the U.S. Executive Branch, Congress and a number of U.S. federal and state agencies, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the IRS and state financial regulators, have been examining the operations of digital asset networks, digital asset users and digital asset exchanges, with particular focus on the extent to which digital assets can be used to violate state or federal laws, including to facilitate the laundering of proceeds of illegal activities or the funding of criminal or terrorist enterprises, and the safety and soundness and consumer-protective safeguards of exchanges or other service-providers that hold, transfer, trade or exchange digital assets for users. Many of these state and federal agencies have issued consumer advisories regarding the risks posed by digital assets to investors. In addition, federal and state agencies, and other countries have issued rules or guidance regarding the treatment of digital asset transactions and requirements for businesses engaged in activities related to digital assets.
Depending on the regulatory characterization of bitcoin, the markets for bitcoin in general, and our activities in particular, our business and our bitcoin strategy may be subject to regulation by one or more regulators in the United States and globally. Ongoing and future regulatory actions may alter, to a materially adverse extent, the nature of digital assets markets, the participation of industry participants, including service providers and financial institutions in these markets, and our ability to pursue our bitcoin strategy. Additionally, U.S. state and federal and foreign regulators and legislatures have taken action against industry participants, including digital assets businesses, and enacted restrictive regimes in response to adverse publicity arising from hacks, consumer harm, or criminal activity stemming from digital assets activity. U.S. federal and state energy regulatory authorities are also monitoring the total electricity consumption of cryptocurrency mining, and the potential impacts of cryptocurrency mining to the supply and dispatch functionality of the wholesale grid and retail distribution systems. Many state legislative bodies have passed, or are actively considering, legislation to address the impact of cryptocurrency mining in their respective states.
The CFTC takes the position that some digital assets, including bitcoin, fall within the definition of a “commodity” under the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, as amended (the “CEA”). Under the CEA, the CFTC has broad enforcement authority to police market manipulation and fraud in spot digital assets markets in which we may transact. Beyond instances of fraud or manipulation, the CFTC generally does not oversee cash or spot market exchanges or transactions involving digital asset commodities that do not utilize margin, leverage, or financing. In addition, CFTC regulations and CFTC oversight and enforcement authority apply with respect to futures, swaps, other derivative products and certain retail leveraged commodity transactions involving digital asset commodities, including the markets on which these products trade.
The SEC and its staff have taken the position that certain other digital assets fall within the definition of a “security” under the U.S. federal securities laws. Public statements made by senior officials and senior members of the staff at the SEC indicate that the SEC does not consider bitcoin to be a security under the federal securities laws. However, such statements are not official policy statements by the SEC and reflect only the speakers’ views, which are not binding on the SEC or any other agency or court and cannot be generalized to any other digital assets.
In addition, since transactions in bitcoin provide a degree of anonymity, they are susceptible to misuse for criminal activities, such as money laundering. This misuse, or the perception of such misuse, could lead to greater regulatory oversight of bitcoin and Bitcoin platforms, and there is the possibility that law enforcement agencies could close or blacklist bitcoin platforms or other bitcoin-related infrastructure with little or no notice and prevent users from accessing or retrieving bitcoin held via such platforms or infrastructure. For example, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued updated advisories regarding the use of virtual currencies, added a number of digital asset
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exchanges and service providers to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list and engaged in several enforcement actions, including a series of enforcement actions that have either shut down or significantly curtailed the operations of several smaller digital asset exchanges associated with Russian and/or North Korean nationals.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Regulation
QuantaFlo is a medical device subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other federal, state, local and foreign regulatory bodies. FDA regulations govern, among other things, activities that Semler Scientific or Semler Scientific’s partners perform and will continue to perform, including product design and development, product testing, product manufacturing, product safety, post-market adverse event reporting, post-market surveillance, product labeling, product storage, record keeping, premarket clearance or approval, post-market approval studies, advertising and promotion, and product sales and distribution.
Healthcare Fraud and Abuse
Semler Scientific’s operations are subject to federal and state healthcare laws and regulations including fraud and abuse laws, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws, data privacy and security laws and transparency laws related to payments and/or other transfers of value made to physicians and other healthcare professionals and teaching hospitals.
The federal Anti-Kickback Law prohibits unlawful inducements for the referral of business reimbursable under federally-funded healthcare programs, such as remuneration provided to physicians to induce them to use certain tissue products or medical devices reimbursable by Medicare or Medicaid. The federal Anti-Kickback Law is subject to evolving interpretations. For example, the government has enforced the federal Anti-Kickback Law to reach large settlements with healthcare companies based on, among other things, inappropriate consultant arrangements with physicians or questionable joint venture arrangements. The majority of states also have anti-kickback laws, which establish similar prohibitions that may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including commercial insurers. Further, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “Health Care Reform Law”), among other things, amended the intent requirement of the federal Anti-Kickback Law and criminal healthcare fraud statutes. A person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of this statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. In addition, the Health Care Reform Law provided that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Law constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the civil False Claims Act and certain criminal healthcare fraud statutes.
Additionally, the civil False Claims Act prohibits knowingly presenting or causing the presentation of a false, fictitious or fraudulent claim for payment to the U.S. government. Actions under the False Claims Act may be brought by the U.S. Attorney General or as a qui tam action by a private individual in the name of the government. The federal government is using the civil False Claims Act, and the accompanying threat of significant liability, in its investigations of healthcare providers and suppliers throughout the country for a wide variety of Medicare billing practices and has obtained multi-million and multi-billion dollar settlements in addition to individual criminal convictions. The federal False Claims Act provides for treble damages and per-claim penalties. Semler Scientific has been cooperating with civil investigative demands from DOJ (as defined below) since 2017 related to claims for reimbursement related to Semler Scientific’s QuantaFlo device and entered into a settlement agreement with DOJ related thereto in September 2025. See “Risk Factors— Risks Related to Our Healthcare Legal and Regulatory Environment—We are subject to various healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations, recently entered into a settlement agreement with DOJ relating to a qui tam action under the False Claims Act, and is now subject to additional litigation and risk relating to the DOJ matter and disclosures regarding the same.” for more information. In addition, off-label promotion has been pursued as a violation of the federal False Claims Act. Pursuant to FDA regulations, Semler Scientific can only market Semler Scientific’s products for cleared or approved uses. Although physicians are permitted to use medical devices for indications other than those cleared or approved by the FDA based on their independent medical judgment, Semler Scientific is prohibited from promoting products for such off-label uses. Given the significant size of actual and potential settlements, it is expected that the government will continue to devote substantial resources to investigating healthcare providers’ and suppliers’ compliance with the healthcare reimbursement rules and fraud and abuse laws.
Additionally, the majority of states in which Semler Scientific markets Semler Scientific’s products have similar fraud and abuse laws, such as anti-kickback, false claims, anti-fee splitting and self-referral laws, which may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including commercial insurers, and violations may result in substantial civil, criminal and administrative penalties.
The Health Care Reform Law also included the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires device manufacturers for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to
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disclose annually to CMS any “transfer of value” made or distributed to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), other licensed health care practitioners, and teaching hospitals. Such information is now made publicly available in a searchable format, and device manufacturers are now required to report and disclose any investment interests held by physicians and their family members during the preceding calendar year. Failure to submit required information may result in significant civil monetary penalties for all payments, transfers of value or ownership or investment interests not reported in an annual submission. Additionally, the commercial compliance environment is continually evolving in the healthcare industry, and some states, including California, Massachusetts and Vermont, mandate implementation of corporate compliance programs, along with the tracking and reporting of gifts, compensation and other remuneration to physicians and other healthcare providers. The shifting compliance environment and the need to build and maintain robust and expandable systems to comply in multiple jurisdictions with different compliance and/or reporting requirements increases the possibility that a healthcare company may run afoul of one or more of the requirements.
Semler Scientific’s business operations may also be subject to certain federal and state laws regarding the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health information, such as the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, which impose obligations on certain entities with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information.
To enforce compliance with the federal laws, the DOJ has also increased its scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare providers (including Semler Scientific), which has led to an unprecedented level of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and settlements in the healthcare industry. Dealing with investigations can be time- and resource-consuming. Additionally, if a healthcare company settles an investigation with the DOJ or other law enforcement agencies, the company may be required to agree to additional compliance and reporting requirements as part of a consent decree or corporate integrity agreement.
The U.S. and foreign government regulators have increased regulation, enforcement, inspections and governmental investigations of the medical device industry, including increased U.S. government oversight and enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Whenever a governmental authority concludes that Semler Scientific is not in compliance with applicable laws or regulations, that authority can impose fines, delay or suspend regulatory clearances, institute proceedings to detain or seize Semler Scientific’s products, issue a recall, impose operating restrictions, enjoin future violations and assess civil penalties against Semler Scientific or Semler Scientific’s officers or employees and can recommend criminal prosecution. Moreover, governmental authorities can ban or request the recall, repair, replacement or refund of the cost of devices Semler Scientific distributes.
If a governmental authority were to conclude that Semler Scientific is not in compliance with applicable fraud and abuse laws and regulations, Semler Scientific and Semler Scientific’s officers and employees could be subject to severe penalties including, for example, civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, individual imprisonment, exclusion from participation as a supplier of product to beneficiaries covered by Medicare or Medicaid, additional reporting obligations and oversight if subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment or restructuring of operations, any of which could adversely affect Semler Scientific’s ability to operate Semler Scientific’s business and the results of Semler Scientific’s operations.
It is uncertain whether and how future legislation, whether domestic or foreign, could affect prospects for QuantaFlo or what actions foreign, federal, state or private payors for health care treatment and services may take in response to any such health care reform proposals or legislation.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2025, we employed 28 full-time employees. None of our employees are represented by a labor union. We believe our human-capital practices — centered on meritocracy, performance-based compensation, and equity ownership — are critical to attracting and retaining top talent. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good and have not experienced any work stoppages. We also regularly engage consultants and subcontractors on an as-needed basis.
Our executive management team regularly review and update our talent strategy, monitoring a variety of data, including turnover, diversity, and tenure, to design and implement effective reward/recognition, training, development, succession, and benefit programs to meet the needs of our businesses and our employees.
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Available Information
Our website is located at www.strive.com. We make available free of charge, on or through the Investor Relations section of our website (https://investors.strive.com), our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after electronically filing or furnishing such reports with the SEC. Information found on our website is not part of this Annual Report or any other report filed with the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including us, that file or furnish electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. We also maintain a dashboard on our website (https://treasury.strive.com/) as a disclosure channel for providing broad, non-exclusionary distribution of information regarding the Company to the public, including information regarding market prices of our outstanding securities, bitcoin acquisitions and holdings, certain KPI metrics and other supplemental information, and as one means of disclosing non-public information in compliance with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Investors and others are encouraged to regularly review the information that we make public via the website dashboard.