How do you know what a bitcoin treasury paid?

They file it. Strive's and Strategy's 8-Ks state each purchase window, the bitcoin bought and an average price per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.

What does stripping the price mean?

When a filing says a price is inclusive of fees and expenses, that price carries a cost stack. Dividing out an estimated 17.5 basis points gives the raw price the counterparty charged. Where a filing says net of fees, or says nothing, nothing is stripped.

What is the EnsoTrade price?

What EnsoTrade's smart routers would have paid for the same dollars on the same days, on the order books as they were recorded at the time, with our own fees in. The routing and the models are proprietary.

Did Strive overpay for its bitcoin in 2026?

Measured against EnsoTrade's smart routers on the recorded order books of the same days, Strive's raw price averaged $344 per bitcoin (+45.1bp) higher, about 96 bitcoin fewer for the same dollars. 4 of its 17 purchases beat our price.

Did Strategy overpay for its bitcoin in 2026?

No. Measured against EnsoTrade's smart routers on the recorded order books of the same days, Strategy's raw price averaged $134 per bitcoin (−16.9bp) lower: its desk got about 308 more bitcoin for the same dollars, mostly in its largest weeks.

Does the scorecard always say the treasury paid too much?

No. Of the two companies measured over 2026, Strive paid more than our benchmark and Strategy paid less. A scorecard that only ever returns one answer is a sales document.

What bitcoin treasuries actually pay to execute

Name: Bitcoin treasury execution scorecard
Creator: EnsoTrade
License: https://www.ensotrade.tech/terms-of-service

Public companies disclose the average price they paid for bitcoin. Almost nobody checks it against the market. We do, from their own filings, and the answer is different for every company.

Updated 19 October 2026 · every 2026 purchase of 50 BTC or more: 17 by Strive, 26 by Strategy · priced on the recorded order books of the same days · sources and limits at the bottom

Two companies, one method, two answers

Company	Purchases	Bitcoin	Spent	Per BTC vs us	Same dollars	Their way
Strive (ASST)	17 · 19 May–16 Oct	21,318	$1.70B	+$344 (+45.1bp)	+96 BTC	4 of 17
Strategy (MSTR)	26 · 1 Jan–11 Oct	182,697	$14.31B	−$134 (−16.9bp)	−308 BTC	10 of 26

A positive figure means the company’s raw price was above what EnsoTrade’s smart routers would have paid for the same dollars on the same days; “same dollars” is how many more bitcoin our price would have bought, and “their way” counts the purchases where the company beat our price. Strive paid more. Strategy’s desk beat our smart routers. A scorecard that only ever returns one answer is a sales document; this one does not.

Priced on the books as they were

Every EnsoTrade price here comes from the exchange order books as they were recorded on the days each company bought, not from today’s market. Our smart routers buy the same dollars, inside the same purchase window, with our own fees in. Each purchase has its own page with the filing, the numbers and its place in the company’s year.

Strive: 17 purchases, 21,318 BTC

+$344 / BTC · 45.1 basis points

About 96 more bitcoin for the same $1.70B, or $7.3M. Strive beat our benchmark in 4 of 17 purchases, and those stay on the sheet.

How hard that number is to break

Across the year, not one week: the 95% confidence range of the average is +17bp to +82bp. Single weeks swing; the year does not reach zero.
Without the flagged outlier week: +$291 / BTC.
Double the fee stack to 35bp: still +$205 / BTC, about 59 BTC. The gap closes only if Strive’s all-in cost was about 61bp.
A stricter timing assumption moves it to +$571 / BTC.
Against the market itself: in 12 of 16 purchases, Strive’s raw price sat above the market’s own volume-weighted average for the same trading hours, by +62bp BTC-weighted.

Window	BTC	Filed	Raw	EnsoTrade	Per BTC	bp
19–22 May	1,109	76,989	76,855	76,921	−67	−9
23 May–1 Jun	2,500	74,092	73,963	73,619	+344	+47
8–14 Jun	73	63,646	63,535	62,841	+694	+110
15–21 Jun	759	65,850	65,735	65,036	+699	+107
20–24 Jul	79	65,723	65,608	65,388	+220	+34
3–7 Aug	147	64,812	64,699	64,358	+340	+53
10–14 Aug	79	63,231	63,121	63,513	−392	−62
17–21 Aug · outlier	1,110	73,409	73,281	71,970	+1,311	+182
24–28 Aug	1,800	79,431	79,292	79,097	+195	+25
31 Aug–4 Sep	1,375	79,281	79,143	78,909	+234	+30
8–11 Sep	469	77,954	77,818	78,041	−223	−29
14–18 Sep	1,355	79,475	79,336	77,727	+1,609	+207
21–25 Sep	1,107	85,396	85,247	85,164	+83	+10
28 Sep–2 Oct	2,000	84,422	84,275	84,249	+25	+3
5–9 Oct	3,311	84,500	84,352	83,837	+516	+62
12–13 Oct	2,822	83,266	83,121	83,070	+51	+6
14–16 Oct	1,223	81,734	81,591	81,808	−217	−27
All 17, BTC-weighted	21,318				+344	+45.1

Strategy: 26 purchases, 182,697 BTC

−$134 / BTC · −17 basis points

Strategy’s desk got about 308 more bitcoin for the same $14.31B than our smart routers.

How hard that number is to break

Where it comes from: Strategy’s largest weeks. In the 7 weeks of 10,000 BTC or more its desk was ahead by about $196 / BTC, and won 4 of them.
Its smaller weeks go the other way: in the 19 weeks under 10,000 BTC our price was lower by about $143 / BTC, and Strategy won 6.
No fee stripped at all: Strategy’s filed all-in price comes out within 1bp of ours.
A stricter timing assumption moves it to +$39 / BTC.
Against the market itself: in 16 of 26 purchases, Strategy’s raw price sat above the market’s own volume-weighted average for the same trading hours, by −11bp BTC-weighted.

All 26 Strategy purchases

Window	BTC	Filed	Raw	EnsoTrade	Per BTC	bp
1–4 Jan	1,283	90,391	90,233	89,851	+382	+43
5–11 Jan	13,627	91,519	91,359	91,729	−370	−40
12–19 Jan	22,305	95,284	95,118	95,395	−277	−29
20–25 Jan	2,932	90,061	89,904	89,666	+237	+26
26 Jan–1 Feb	855	87,974	87,820	87,778	+43	+5
2–8 Feb	1,142	78,815	78,677	78,570	+107	+14
9–16 Feb	2,486	67,710	67,592	68,796	−1,204	−175
17–22 Feb	592	67,286	67,168	67,357	−188	−28
23 Feb–1 Mar	3,015	67,700	67,582	67,383	+198	+29
2–8 Mar	17,994	70,946	70,822	70,770	+52	+7
9–15 Mar	22,337	70,194	70,071	70,546	−475	−67
16–22 Mar	1,031	74,326	74,196	74,236	−39	−5
1–5 Apr	4,871	67,718	67,600	67,498	+102	+15
6–12 Apr	13,927	71,902	71,776	71,557	+219	+31
13–19 Apr	34,164	74,395	74,265	74,726	−460	−62
20–26 Apr	3,273	77,906	77,770	78,011	−241	−31
4–10 May	535	80,340	80,200	80,902	−703	−87
11–17 May	24,869	80,985	80,844	80,669	+175	+22
1–7 Jun	1,550	65,332	65,218	64,313	+905	+141
8–14 Jun	1,587	63,024	62,914	62,733	+180	+29
15–21 Jun	520	67,068	66,951	65,293	+1,657	+254
24–30 Aug	4,603	80,318	80,178	79,596	+581	+73
14–20 Sep	950	79,670	79,531	77,556	+1,975	+255
21–27 Sep	1,665	85,681	85,531	85,940	−409	−48
1–4 Oct	334	85,839	85,689	85,068	+621	+73
5–11 Oct	250	86,194	86,043	85,995	+49	+6
All 26, BTC-weighted	182,697				−134	−16.9

Questions

How do you know what a bitcoin treasury paid?: They file it. Strive's and Strategy's 8-Ks state each purchase window, the bitcoin bought and an average price per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.
What does stripping the price mean?: When a filing says a price is inclusive of fees and expenses, that price carries a cost stack. Dividing out an estimated 17.5 basis points gives the raw price the counterparty charged. Where a filing says net of fees, or says nothing, nothing is stripped.
What is the EnsoTrade price?: What EnsoTrade's smart routers would have paid for the same dollars on the same days, on the order books as they were recorded at the time, with our own fees in. The routing and the models are proprietary.
Did Strive overpay for its bitcoin in 2026?: Measured against EnsoTrade's smart routers on the recorded order books of the same days, Strive's raw price averaged $344 per bitcoin (+45.1bp) higher, about 96 bitcoin fewer for the same dollars. 4 of its 17 purchases beat our price.
Did Strategy overpay for its bitcoin in 2026?: No. Measured against EnsoTrade's smart routers on the recorded order books of the same days, Strategy's raw price averaged $134 per bitcoin (−16.9bp) lower: its desk got about 308 more bitcoin for the same dollars, mostly in its largest weeks.
Does the scorecard always say the treasury paid too much?: No. Of the two companies measured over 2026, Strive paid more than our benchmark and Strategy paid less. A scorecard that only ever returns one answer is a sales document.

Get this for your own buys →

How a filed price is stripped to raw

When a filing states its average price “inclusive of fees and expenses,” we divide out an estimated 17.5bp stack for prime brokerage, the desk, market impact and custody. Raw price = filed price ÷ 1.00175. Where a filing says “net of fees” or carries no fee language, nothing is stripped. Our own fees always stay in our price.

The EnsoTrade price comes from our smart routers and smart models, run on the recorded order books of the same days for the same dollars. The routing and the models are proprietary.

Limits, stated rather than buried

Every EnsoTrade figure is a counterfactual: priced on real recorded order books, but not filled. A real order of this size changes the market it trades into.
Conservative on venues. Our prices use the books of a single US exchange. Spreading the same orders across more venues lowers the price we would pay, so every figure here would move in our favour, not against it.
Neither company discloses its bitcoin buying day by day. Its timing inside each window is our estimate from the filings.
The 17.5bp stack is an estimate: neither company discloses its custody, execution or commission costs.
Purchases under 50 BTC are excluded. A multi-day window measures when a company bought as well as how well.

Sources

Strive, Inc. Forms 8-K, CIK 1920406.
Strategy Inc. Forms 8-K, CIK 1050446.
Recorded order books and trades from a US exchange, covering every window.

Prepared by EnsoTrade from public filings and public market data. Neither company has reviewed it. Nothing here is investment advice. All scored purchases · Strive · Strategy