Strategy STRC

What the numbers actually mean.

What if I parked dollars in STRC?

Same money. Three years. Model your own scenario — yield rate, holding period, tax treatment — and see the dividend outcome vs a yield-free dollar stablecoin baseline. An educational projection, not advice.

Educational projection only — not investment or tax advice. Assumes no dividend cut, no price change, no reinvestment. Federal-only tax. STRC is a security, not a stablecoin — see the profile for full risk disclosure.

The claim ladder.

If Strategy were to face insolvency, who gets paid in what order. STRC is preferred equity — it ranks behind all of Strategy's debt and ahead of common stock, with no lien on the BTC. The Bitcoin backs the stack only indirectly, through Strategy staying solvent — it is not collateral pledged to STRC.

STRC vs the other dollar products.

The research angle.

Strategy preferreds are public-market examples used to understand Digital Credit-style claims. Products like Apyx and Saturn may reference or build around similar credit streams, but each wrapper still needs its own source review.

The 8-factor breakdown.

STRC is a perpetual preferred stock issued by Strategy Inc. (CIK 1050446); proceeds support Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy. Holders own a preferred-equity claim on Strategy, not on its Bitcoin. As of May 17, 2026, Strategy held 843,738 BTC at $63.87B aggregate cost (~$75,700/BTC avg). Total preferred stack across all five series carries ~$9.0B in liquidation preference; total convertible-note debt is ~$6.7B (down from ~$8.2B after Strategy repurchased $1.5B of its 2029 convertible notes for ~$1.38B cash in May 2026, per its 8-K/10-Q). BTC at cost covers the preferred stack ~7.1×, and the preferred + debt stack ~4.1×. Per the Certificate of Designation (8-K filed 2025-07-29), STRC dividends are cumulative — missed payments become “Compounded Dividends” and accrue monthly until paid — with a dividend stopper that prevents distributions to common equity or junior series until preferred arrears are cleared.

Exit is through public securities-market liquidity, not onchain redemption. Brokerage access, bid/ask spread, trading volume, tax treatment, and issuer-credit stress matter more than smart-contract redemption mechanics.

STRC is not a dollar stablecoin and the $99–101 trading band is NOT contractually enforced. Strategy states an intention to manage the dividend rate + ATM issuance to keep the price near the $100 stated value, but the 10-K (FY2025) explicitly disclaims any obligation: “we have no obligation to do so, and even if we attempt to achieve our current stated intent, any adjustments we make may fail.” The band’s soft ceiling is the $101 optional-redemption call price (Cert of Designation §7); below that, the band relies on Strategy’s commercial incentive to keep its rolling capital cost low. No buyback program; no structural peg mechanism.

STRC pays a variable-rate cash dividend (currently 11.50% annualized, paid monthly). The rate is set at Strategy’s sole discretion each month, subject to (a) a floor at Monthly SOFR Per Annum, and (b) a constraint that the rate can only be reduced if all accumulated dividends from prior periods are paid in full (Cert of Designation §5). IMPORTANT TAX NOTE: per the 10-K, Strategy has no current or accumulated earnings & profits (E&P) and does not expect to. Therefore STRC distributions DO NOT qualify as dividends for U.S. federal tax purposes — non-corporate holders cannot access the 15–20% qualified-dividend rate. Distributions are treated as return of capital (reducing tax basis, then capital gain). The 10-K also discusses IRS “fast-pay stock” classification risk; Strategy disclaims it but the risk remains unresolved.

Overall score = 7.92 under the v3.2 Bitcoin-holder Digital Credit standard. STRC earns its position on the strength of: (a) deepest liquidity in the Strategy preferred stack ($10.4B market cap, ~$337M avg daily volume), (b) cumulative dividends with stopper protection (Cert of Designation §5), (c) ~7.1× BTC cost coverage of all preferreds, and (d) primary-source-grade disclosure cadence (10-K, 10-Q, weekly 8-K ATM reports). Loses points because: (a) preferreds are issuer credit, not BTC-collateralized; (b) STRC distributions don’t qualify as dividends for tax purposes (return of capital treatment, per 10-K); (c) rate is issuer-discretionary monthly (floored at SOFR); (d) STRC ranks #2 in the preferred waterfall behind STRF; (e) only ~10 months of operating history. Score sub-factors verified against primary SEC filings on 2026-05-25; backingSource raised 6.7→7.5 in the 2026-05-28 review after Strategy’s May 2026 debt paydown (repurchase of $1.5B 2029 notes) lifted coverage of the senior-claim stack to ~4.1×; pegDesign trimmed 7.1→6.9 in the 2026-06-04 review (the $99–101 band is policy, not structural, and the monthly rate reset is issuer-discretionary); governanceCounterparty re-tiered 5.5→8.0 in the 2026-06-18 re-tiering review (a legally-explicit single-issuer preferred structure with clear seniority/custody/covenants is no longer scored as opaque control) — verified against the SEC filings listed below.

Overall score = 7.92 under the v3.2 Bitcoin-holder Digital Credit standard. STRC earns its position on the strength of: (a) deepest liquidity in the Strategy preferred stack ($10.4B market cap, ~$337M avg daily volume), (b) cumulative dividends with stopper protection (Cert of Designation §5), (c) ~7.1× BTC cost coverage of all preferreds, and (d) primary-source-grade disclosure cadence (10-K, 10-Q, weekly 8-K ATM reports). Loses points because: (a) preferreds are issuer credit, not BTC-collateralized; (b) STRC distributions don’t qualify as dividends for tax purposes (return of capital treatment, per 10-K); (c) rate is issuer-discretionary monthly (floored at SOFR); (d) STRC ranks #2 in the preferred waterfall behind STRF; (e) only ~10 months of operating history. Score sub-factors verified against primary SEC filings on 2026-05-25; backingSource raised 6.7→7.5 in the 2026-05-28 review after Strategy’s May 2026 debt paydown (repurchase of $1.5B 2029 notes) lifted coverage of the senior-claim stack to ~4.1×; pegDesign trimmed 7.1→6.9 in the 2026-06-04 review (the $99–101 band is policy, not structural, and the monthly rate reset is issuer-discretionary); governanceCounterparty re-tiered 5.5→8.0 in the 2026-06-18 re-tiering review (a legally-explicit single-issuer preferred structure with clear seniority/custody/covenants is no longer scored as opaque control) — verified against the SEC filings listed below.

Overall score = 7.92 under the v3.2 Bitcoin-holder Digital Credit standard. STRC earns its position on the strength of: (a) deepest liquidity in the Strategy preferred stack ($10.4B market cap, ~$337M avg daily volume), (b) cumulative dividends with stopper protection (Cert of Designation §5), (c) ~7.1× BTC cost coverage of all preferreds, and (d) primary-source-grade disclosure cadence (10-K, 10-Q, weekly 8-K ATM reports). Loses points because: (a) preferreds are issuer credit, not BTC-collateralized; (b) STRC distributions don’t qualify as dividends for tax purposes (return of capital treatment, per 10-K); (c) rate is issuer-discretionary monthly (floored at SOFR); (d) STRC ranks #2 in the preferred waterfall behind STRF; (e) only ~10 months of operating history. Score sub-factors verified against primary SEC filings on 2026-05-25; backingSource raised 6.7→7.5 in the 2026-05-28 review after Strategy’s May 2026 debt paydown (repurchase of $1.5B 2029 notes) lifted coverage of the senior-claim stack to ~4.1×; pegDesign trimmed 7.1→6.9 in the 2026-06-04 review (the $99–101 band is policy, not structural, and the monthly rate reset is issuer-discretionary); governanceCounterparty re-tiered 5.5→8.0 in the 2026-06-18 re-tiering review (a legally-explicit single-issuer preferred structure with clear seniority/custody/covenants is no longer scored as opaque control) — verified against the SEC filings listed below.

Overall score = 7.92 under the v3.2 Bitcoin-holder Digital Credit standard. STRC earns its position on the strength of: (a) deepest liquidity in the Strategy preferred stack ($10.4B market cap, ~$337M avg daily volume), (b) cumulative dividends with stopper protection (Cert of Designation §5), (c) ~7.1× BTC cost coverage of all preferreds, and (d) primary-source-grade disclosure cadence (10-K, 10-Q, weekly 8-K ATM reports). Loses points because: (a) preferreds are issuer credit, not BTC-collateralized; (b) STRC distributions don’t qualify as dividends for tax purposes (return of capital treatment, per 10-K); (c) rate is issuer-discretionary monthly (floored at SOFR); (d) STRC ranks #2 in the preferred waterfall behind STRF; (e) only ~10 months of operating history. Score sub-factors verified against primary SEC filings on 2026-05-25; backingSource raised 6.7→7.5 in the 2026-05-28 review after Strategy’s May 2026 debt paydown (repurchase of $1.5B 2029 notes) lifted coverage of the senior-claim stack to ~4.1×; pegDesign trimmed 7.1→6.9 in the 2026-06-04 review (the $99–101 band is policy, not structural, and the monthly rate reset is issuer-discretionary); governanceCounterparty re-tiered 5.5→8.0 in the 2026-06-18 re-tiering review (a legally-explicit single-issuer preferred structure with clear seniority/custody/covenants is no longer scored as opaque control) — verified against the SEC filings listed below.