Shares of Asset Entities (ASST) surged by 52% after-hours on Tuesday following shareholder approval of a merger with Vivek Ramaswamy’s Strive Enterprises, forming a Bitcoin treasury company. The new entity will aim to raise $1.5 billion in capital to acquire Bitcoin (BTC). Strive Enterprises CEO Matt Cole, who leads the newly merged firm, will oversee the operation, while Asset Entities CEO Arshia Sarkhani will serve as chief marketing officer and board member. 52% rally after-hours on Tuesday. The merger was announced on Tuesday with shares closing at $6.28 before surging to $9.55 in after-hours trading. The company is part of a growing trend of public crypto-buying companies, with 186 now reporting large-scale Bitcoin purchases. This has contributed to Bitcoin’s price rally to $124,450 as these firms use equity, convertible debt, perpetual stock and more recently, Special Purpose Acquisition mergers (SPACs) to finance their plans. Strive opted for a reverse-merger, considered safer than the quicker paced SPACs due to its reliance on less speculative capital raises and less uncertain timelines. This $1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase will be funded through a Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE), with an additional $750 million that could come from exercising warrants issued within the PIPE. The $1.5 billion raise would allow them to acquire 13,450 Bitcoin at current market prices, putting it among the top 10 largest corporate Bitcoin holdings. The merger is contingent upon approval of Strive’s listing application with the Nasdaq Stock Market. It also marks a potential move to buy assets from Mt. Gox, a collapsed crypto exchange that was once the subject of one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in history. Strive hopes this strategy could help boost its Bitcoin-per-share ratio, a metric often used in the Bitcoin treasury space. The merger’s success hinges on shareholder approval for acquiring the Mt. Gox claims. Since its launch in 2022 by Anson Frericks and Ramaswamy (a biotech entrepreneur who ran for president last year), Asset Entities has been a social media marketing firm with no prior experience in Bitcoin or cryptocurrency industry. This merger signifies a significant milestone in corporate Bitcoin adoption, pushing the total holdings of public companies to 1 million BTC, representing 5.1% of the circulating Bitcoin supply. Michael Saylor’s strategy continues to dominate Bitcoin accumulation, holding 638,460 BTC worth $71.2 billion, while MARA Holdings and XXI round out the top three with 52,477 BTC and 43,514 BTC respectively.