Strive to buy Semler Scientific in merger of Bitcoin treasuries

The all-stock deal will see Strive buying Semler shares at roughly $90.52 apiece, a more than 200% premium to its Friday closing price of $29.18. The two firms will together own nearly 11,000 Bitcoin after the merger, according to a press release on Monday.

Strive will explore ways to "monetizing" or distributing Semler's "historically profitable diagnostics business at a future date," the announcement said.

The deal comes after Strive this month completed its merger with Asset Entities Inc., a digital marketing company, to create a Bitcoin treasury. The Dallas-based firm said it intends to build a "Bitcoin war chest" with what it described as a long-term investment approach.

"Strive's merger agreement to acquire Semler Scientific just one week after becoming a public company shows a level of speed and execution not seen before in the Bitcoin treasury space," said Matt Cole, Strive's chairman and chief executive officer.

Prior to its Bitcoin-hoarding announcement, Strive had become known for its asset-management business -- it runs a number of exchange-traded funds, including the $1 billion Strive 500 ETF (ticker STRV), which is focused on the largest U.S. stocks.

Semler Scientific, a medical-device maker, last year became one of the first to adopt Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset, following the approach pioneered by Michael Saylor's Strategy Inc.

Semler reported a 43% year-over-year drop in second-quarter revenue. Its shares have fallen 46% this year through Friday.

The race to emulate Saylor's crypto-hoarding methods have gathered pace this year, with new companies being created at a dizzying pace to accumulate Bitcoin and smaller tokens. In recent months, several Bitcoin proxies including Japan's Metaplanet Inc. have seen their shares tumble, complicating efforts to finance crypto purchases.