What Is STRC? A Complete Guide to Strategy’s Bitcoin-Linked Preferred Stock

What Is STRC?

Formally, STRC is Strategy's Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, listed on Nasdaq. It sits between common equity and debt in the capital structure, so preferred holders rank ahead of common shareholders for dividends and for any liquidation claim, but behind bondholders.

• Variable dividend rate: Adjusts periodically. Strategy sets it to keep STRC trading near its $100 par value.
• Semi-monthly cash payments: Since mid-2026, paid twice a month rather than once, to further dampen price volatility around the record dates.
• Perpetual: No maturity date. Strategy never has to buy these back.
• Cumulative: Missed dividends accumulate and compound at the prevailing rate.
• Not convertible: Cannot be exchanged for common MSTR shares (unlike STRK).

STRC priced at $90 per share on July 24, 2025 (settled July 29), issuing 28,011,111 shares and raising roughly $2.5 billion, the largest US IPO of 2025. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has called it the company's "iPhone moment." Nearly all of the proceeds went toward buying Bitcoin.

How the STRC Dividend Works

Strategy sets the rate at its sole discretion, but the prospectus caps how fast it can fall: no more than 25 basis points plus any drop in the one-month SOFR rate from the prior period, and the rate can never go below the prevailing SOFR floor. Within those bounds, Strategy has said its objective is for STRC to trade over time in approximately a $99–$100 range.

The rate started at 9.00% in August 2025 and climbed every month for seven straight months to 11.50% by March 2026, where it held steady through July 2026. On July 31, 2026, Strategy raised the rate again, to 12.00%, effective for semi-monthly periods beginning August 16, 2026. Management has said it does not intend to recommend lowering the rate until STRC demonstrates sustained trading at or near its $100 stated amount.

Strategy has also moved STRC from monthly to semi-monthly payments, effective with the period ending July 15, 2026, following an amendment to STRC's certificate of designations, in order to further dampen price volatility around each record date.

STRC Dividend History

*Payments switched from monthly to semi-monthly beginning with the period ending July 15, 2026.

How STRC Compares to Strategy's Other Preferred Shares

STRC is one of five income-generating securities Strategy has issued to fund its Bitcoin purchases. They differ in rate, seniority, and whether missed dividends are forfeited or accrue:

STRK's lower stated rate reflects its embedded conversion option into MSTR common stock; STRD's higher relative risk (non-cumulative, most junior) is the tradeoff for its position closest to common equity. For a fuller breakdown, see What Are Strategy's Preferred Shares?

The STRC Bitcoin Connection

Capital raised from STRC and Strategy's other instruments goes almost entirely toward buying Bitcoin. As of September 14, 2026, Strategy holds 845,050 BTC at a cumulative cost of about $63.73 billion (roughly $75,412 average). That is roughly 4% of Bitcoin's circulating supply, making Strategy the largest corporate BTC holder by a wide margin.

STRC issuance raised $7.53 billion in the first half of 2026 alone, a 254% increase year over year, funding the bulk of that accumulation. More recently, with STRC trading below par, Strategy has shifted toward repurchasing STRC shares at a discount rather than issuing more: in the week of September 8–13, 2026 alone, it bought back roughly $139.3 million of STRC shares, funded from its USD Cash reserve.

Understanding STRC Yield

The stated rate is 12.00% on the $100 stated amount. Your effective yield depends on what you pay. As of a Strategy investor briefing on August 23, 2026, STRC's effective yield stood at about 12.5%, well above comparable income ETFs (which the company placed in a 3.4%–7.0% range), though Strategy cautions this figure is a snapshot, not a forecast of future total return: the dividend rate can reset, the company can redeem shares at $101, and market price and entry point all matter. Track STRC pricing and dividend updates at strategy.com/strc/learn. MSTR itself is among the U.S. stocks available on Backpack.

Key Risks

Bitcoin price dependency. Strategy's balance sheet is almost entirely Bitcoin. In a single quarter (Q1 2026), unrealized losses on its holdings exceeded $14 billion. If BTC enters a sustained bear market, Strategy's ability to cover preferred dividends comes into question.

Dividend rate is discretionary. Strategy can lower the rate at any time. Its own disclaimer: the "current rate is not indicative of future rate" and "may be significantly lower."

No collateral backing. Despite the "Bitcoin-backed" label in media, Strategy's own disclosure states that its preferred securities "are not collateralized by the Company's bitcoin holdings and only have a preferred claim on the residual assets." STRC holders have no direct claim on any specific BTC.

Cash flow gap. Strategy's software revenue does not cover preferred dividends. The company maintains a USD Reserve for this purpose (roughly $5.1 billion as of mid-September 2026, providing over two years of coverage), but that reserve has also been drawn on to repurchase preferred stock and convertible debt.