MicroStrategy Preferred Stock STRC Falls Below $99 as Bitcoin Slides

Strategy (MSTR) launched perpetual preferred stock STRC last year, attracting capital with a $100 par value per share and an initial 9% yield. It raised a cumulative $10.5 billion to buy Bitcoin. The dividend yield later rose to 11.5%. Because this high-yield financing model helped make Strategy the largest corporate buyer, STRC's fall below par was seen as a critical stress test for the crypto market's leverage cycle.

Bitcoin fell to $58,190 on June 25, its lowest level in 21 months, while STRC dropped below $75 from its $100 par value. Strategy switched to floating pricing on June 29 and may sell Bitcoin to fund dividends if necessary. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said on July 1 that Strategy was not nearing liquidation, citing $52 billion in liquid assets and $7 billion in debt. He said the deleveraging indicated the cycle was nearing a bottom and that institutions would take over as the main source of buying.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, has pursued a Bitcoin treasury strategy championed by Michael Saylor since 2020, raising funds through share sales and debt issuance to buy the cryptocurrency. The company’s mNAV is calculated by dividing enterprise value by the market value of its Bitcoin holdings. A premium above 1 once supported low-cost fundraising and further purchases, while a reading below 1 could make additional share issuance dilutive and reduce capital-allocation flexibility.

Strategy’s enterprise mNAV fell to about 0.99 on June 26, 2026. With Bitcoin at about $60,000, its 847,363 coins were valued at roughly $51.1 billion, compared with an enterprise value of about $50.4 billion, marking the first such inversion. As of a June 29 report, MSTR’s market capitalization stood at about $29.54 billion after falling more than 45% in 2026, indicating that the market no longer awards the stock its former premium.

Strategy launched STRC, a floating-rate perpetual preferred stock, in July 2025 with a par value of $100 to raise funds for expanding its Bitcoin holdings. Its dividend rate is adjusted monthly to keep the market price close to par. Although STRC ranks ahead of common stock for repayment, it remains exposed to risks tied to Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings, financing and dividend coverage. Its sharp discount to par is now testing its positioning as a stable income investment.

STRC closed at $91.79 on June 16, 2026, an 8.2% discount to its $100 par value and its third-lowest close since listing in July 2025, implying an annualized yield of 12.53%. Bitcoin was trading at about $65,000 at the time. After Strategy repaid $1.5 billion of convertible debt, its cash dividend coverage fell from 24 months to seven months. The same day, Strive’s SATA began paying daily dividends at a 13% annual rate while trading at $99.99, further drawing income-focused capital away from STRC.

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has raised funds by issuing perpetual preferred stock STRC to expand its bitcoin holdings, closely linking the company's securities, leveraged financing and the crypto market. After STRC fell below its $100-per-share benchmark, investors grew concerned that its fundraising capacity and dividend commitments could come under pressure. The preferred stock's price swings have therefore become a key gauge of confidence in Strategy's creditworthiness and bitcoin strategy.

On June 18, STRC fell to its lowest level since issuance, subjecting highly leveraged investors to margin calls and forced liquidations. Strive's CEO stressed that the sharp declines in STRC and SATA stemmed from leveraged liquidations rather than deteriorating credit. The selling subsequently spread to the cryptocurrency market, briefly driving bitcoin down to about $62,000, while DeFi and smart-contract tokens also led losses.

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has raised funds since 2020 by issuing MSTR common stock, convertible bonds and preferred shares such as STRC to buy Bitcoin. This created a cycle in which rising Bitcoin prices enabled further capital raising and additional purchases. STRC has a $100 reference price and pays cash dividends. When Bitcoin, MSTR and STRC all decline, the company's financing capacity deteriorates as dividend pressure and shareholder dilution risks increase.

Strategy's U.S. dollar reserves fell from $2.25 billion in February to $871 million in May, while STRC dropped to $71.25 on June 26. The company raised STRC's annualized dividend rate for July from 11.5% to 12%, bringing annual dividend payments to about $1.025 billion. It also sold 3,588 Bitcoin from June 29 to July 5, raising about $216 million to replenish its cash reserves.

MicroStrategy, now known as Strategy, has long used its corporate balance sheet and fundraising proceeds to buy Bitcoin, making it one of the most prominent corporate holders of the cryptocurrency. The accumulation strategy led by founder Michael Saylor has closely tied the company’s share price and financing capacity to Bitcoin’s performance. Its large holdings could also affect market supply and demand and institutional investor sentiment.

In early April, Strategy spent about $1 billion to acquire 13,927 Bitcoin at an average price of roughly $71,900 each, raising its total holdings to 780,897 Bitcoin, or more than 3.7% of the cryptocurrency’s maximum supply of 21 million. The purchase was financed primarily through the issuance of STRC perpetual preferred stock. Saylor said around the same time that Bitcoin may have bottomed near $60,000.

Strategy (MSTR) uses its perpetual preferred stock, Stretch (STRC), as a long-term financing vehicle, attracting capital through a relatively stable share price and dividend mechanism before deploying the proceeds into Bitcoin. The model can reduce the dilution pressure associated with frequent common-stock issuance while giving investors a gauge of whether the company can continue expanding its crypto holdings.

STRC recorded $333 million in trading value on Wednesday, its seventh-highest single-day volume since issuance, while moving by just $0.01 intraday, indicating stability despite heavy trading. Based on the amount raised that day, Strategy may have used the proceeds to buy more than 2,000 additional Bitcoin.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, has become the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder under co-founder Michael Saylor, financing long-term purchases through debt issuance and high-dividend preferred shares. Its financial performance and stock price are therefore closely tied to cryptocurrency markets, while the size of its holdings is large enough to influence market confidence.

Strategy spent about $330 million last week to buy 4,871 Bitcoin at an average price of $67,718 each, lifting its total holdings to 766,970 BTC, or about 3.8% of the circulating supply. The company recorded a first-quarter paper loss of about $14.46 billion and still has about $5 billion in unrealized losses.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, has long raised funds through stock and debt offerings to buy Bitcoin, becoming one of the world's largest corporate holders of the cryptocurrency. In July 2025, it launched its “Stretch” perpetual preferred stock (STRC), designed to offer low volatility and a high yield. The product gives investors who are bullish on Bitcoin but unwilling to bear its sharp price swings a way to participate in the company's Bitcoin strategy.

Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor most recently said retail investors account for about 80% of STRC holders, showing that the product has primarily attracted ordinary individual investors. Since launching STRC in 2025, the company has used proceeds from the offering to purchase more than $1 billion worth of Bitcoin, using the preferred stock's dividend and price-stability mechanisms to expand capital-markets demand for Bitcoin.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, is a key bellwether for corporate crypto treasury strategies, raising funds through common and preferred stock offerings to acquire Bitcoin. STRC is a preferred stock that pays monthly dividends. Changes to its dividend affect investor returns and reflect the company’s financing costs and capital needs amid Bitcoin volatility.

Strategy raised STRC’s annualized dividend rate by 25 basis points to 11.5% in March 2026 and has now kept it at that level for a fourth consecutive month. Meanwhile, Bitcoin fell 20% in February, dragging MSTR down 14% for the month and marking its eighth consecutive monthly decline, underscoring the divergence between preferred-stock yields and the risk profile of the common shares.