Strive CEO Matt Cole and Binance's CZ push back on Bitcoin 'death' narrative

Strive CEO Matt Cole and former Binance chief Changpeng Zhao, popularly known as CZ, have both voiced defiance against Bitcoin’s bearish momentum on Monday, even as the cryptocurrency trades roughly 50% below its October 2025 record high of over $126,000.

CZ posted on X that “Bitcoin won’t be ‘dead’ for too long,” adding a reference to Douglas Adams: “Don’t panic, in large friendly letters.” The post saw thousands of interactions as BTC hovered around $62,600.

On June 8, Strive announced it had purchased an additional 32 BTC for approximately $2.1 million at an average price of roughly $63,911 per coin, according to Cole’s post on X. That buy announcement came two days after he told followers he believes “the debt crisis won’t improve, debasement will continue,” adding that “we’re moving toward a Bitcoin future.”

The Strive CEO also stated that “digital credit” is the best medium of exchange during what he sees as the long transition from fiat to a Bitcoin-denominated world. 

“The dollar is broken but is still the reserve currency,” Cole wrote on X on June 9. “Any security/commodity can easily be used as a medium of exchange today.”

In an X post made on June 8, Cole stated that he and the Strive team are scheduled to appear at BTC Prague this week alongside Michael Saylor for a fireside chat.

Is Bitcoin’s liquidity problem caused by AI?

The bullish posturing arrives during one of Bitcoin’s roughest stretches in recent memory. 

BTC fell from approximately $82,000 in early May to around $63,000 on Monday, a decline of over 20%. It briefly slipped below $60,000 last week for the first time since October 2024.

Wall Street broker Bernstein pointed to capital rotation into artificial intelligence as the main culprit for the poor Bitcoin inflows. 

Bitcoin treasury companies and ETFs have attracted roughly $12 billion of inflows in 2026, which is a steep drop from the $60 billion they received during 2025, Bernstein analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote. 

Spot BTC ETFs alone have recorded about $2.6 billion in net outflows from a $75 billion asset base this year, with corporate buyers led by Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) accounting for most of the remaining demand, according to the report.

Cryptopolitan has previously reported on the broader dynamic at play: while critics are eager to declare Bitcoin dead, the liquidity squeeze has less to do with crypto-specific failures and more to do with capital chasing AI-related IPOs and infrastructure buildouts across equities markets.

Bernstein’s analysts echoed that framing. “Bitcoin still may offer some diversification from the unusual singular AI-driven momentum markets we have experienced this year,” the report stated. The firm also noted that the strongest-performing corners of crypto in 2026 have been tokenized equities and commodities, not Bitcoin itself.

A different kind of market

Despite the price pain, Bernstein argued that Bitcoin’s ownership structure has matured. Unlike prior cycles dominated by retail speculation, today’s holder base spans ETFs, corporate treasuries, wealth-management platforms, pension funds, and sovereign investors, according to the report.

That diversification may explain why Cole and CZ are willing to buy and talk bullishly into a 50% drawdown. Cole backed his words with capital, adding to Strive’s Bitcoin position at prices that would have seemed cheap a year ago and expensive two years before that. CZ offered no specific thesis beyond optimism.

Whether the “dead” label sticks depends largely on whether AI continues to vacuum capital from risk assets or whether institutional buyers see current prices as an entry point. Readers watching this story should keep an eye on weekly ETF flow data and corporate treasury announcements heading into the summer.

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