Key highlights:
- Bitcoin advocate Ben Workman has been hired as Stribe’s Chief Investment Officer to strengthen Bitcoin-based investment strategy.
- Workman, former CIO of Swan Bitcoin, will be responsible for the company’s capital deployment, risk management and Bitcoin efforts.
- The announcement comes after Strive merged all shares with Semler Scientific, making the company one of the largest holders of corporate stocks Bitcoin.
Strive, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASST) has announced that Ben Workman has been appointed as the new Chief Investment Officer (CIO) reporting directly to Chairman and CEO Matt Cole. The measure highlights the company’s increasing focus on Bitcoin as the basis for its corporate investment and financial strategy.
Why Strive chose Ben Workman as CIO
Workman has been known for many years in the digital asset industry for his experience in Bitcoin and corporate finance. He is the CIO of Swan Bitcoin, where he played a key role in expanding the company’s fundraising efforts and organising its first Bitcoin financial transaction with publicly traded company Sequans Communications SA.
At Strive, Workman will promote its internal investment business while paying particular attention to capital expansion, risk assessment and strengthening its efforts in the Bitcoin business. According to the company’s announcement, he has also been an observer on the board of directors.
Strive (Nasdaq: $ASST) appointed @BenWerkman as Chief Investment Officer to drive Bitcoin Strategy
— Strive (@strive) October 6, 2025
“We are excited to be part of Strive at this pivotal moment in Bitcoin’s history, as digital credit is emerging as the next frontier in corporate finance,” Workman said. He added: “Strive has the vision, capital structure and expertise to be a leader in this transition and is excited to help us move forward with our mission.”
In the context, Workman came to Swan Bitcoin after establishing NumerisX, a specialized advisory firm focused on helping companies build and deploy Bitcoin financial solutions. To this day, he worked in the commercial banking sector, dealing with poor credit portfolios during the global financial crisis. He then worked for KPMG for about 10 years, working on governance, strategic planning and risk management advice to institutional investors.
Strive CEO Matt Cole explained that Workman’s recruitment was a key move towards expanding the company’s Bitcoin assets. “Welping Ben as our Chief Investment Officer full-time to Strive will significantly increase the talent of our already strong Bitcoin finance team,” Cole said. “We are confident in our team’s ability to lead strategic decision-making and communications over the next few years, in pursuit of our common stockholders’ goals of increasing Bitcoin per share and performing better than Bitcoin in the long run.”
Strive acquires shares in Semler Scientific
The news follows a short period of time since Strive’s announcement of the all-stock deal acquisition of Semler Scientific, which brings together two of Bitcoin’s most aggressive corporate buyers. Both companies accept the transaction by their boards and are subject to customary closing conditions.
Semler shares were exchanged under the agreement for a 210% premium (based on the value of Semler Scientific stock at approximately $90.52 as of September 19) and 21.05 Strib Class A shares per share. This will grant more than 10,900 BTC to the companies that are obtained, and stocks will be concentrated in the top listed companies in Bitcoin Finance.
Previous reports show that Strive has already purchased 5,816 BTC with an average price of $116,047.04, and has invested a total of about $675 million in the purchase of BTC. After this purchase, the company reported that it had 5,886 BTC stashes. Meanwhile, Semler has accumulated Bitcoin holdings, the largest of all listed companies in the US, and by July it owns more than 5,000 bits.
For Strive, founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, is the first listed asset management company focused on the Bitcoin-based financial model. Founded in August 2022, Strive Asset Management, a subsidiary, was able to manage more than $2 billion in assets under management (AUM) in 2022.
The company highlights its “preferred stock only” approach aimed at avoiding the risk of debt maturity, showing its capital structure focusing on long-term Bitcoin accumulation and performance.
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