Strategy has now spent 635.2 million USD repurchasing its STRC perpetual preferred stock — including 151.8 million USD in a single week — yet the security continues to trade below its 100 USD par value, hovering around 97 USD despite a dramatic recovery from June lows near 71 USD.
By Sarah Park | September 1, 2026
The company disclosed that it bought back another 151.8 million USD of STRC during the week ended August 30, paying an average of 97.48 USD per share for 1.56 million shares, as part of a repurchase program designed to support the preferred stock, crypto.news reported.
The Hook: A Billion-Dollar Rescue Mission for One Security
STRC, nicknamed “Stretch,” is a special type of stock that pays a fixed dividend — think of it as a hybrid between a bond and a share. Strategy introduced a 1 billion USD authorization for preferred stock repurchases in late June as part of its Digital Credit Capital Framework, which also set aside another 1 billion USD for common stock buybacks and raised STRC’s annual dividend rate to 12%.
The framework even included a separate program allowing Strategy to sell up to 1.25 billion USD of Bitcoin if needed. In other words: the largest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world built an emergency toolkit specifically to defend the price of one preferred stock. That is how important STRC has become to the company’s funding machine.
On-Chain Evidence: Where the Money Came From
The latest filing lays out the plumbing. Strategy funded its recent transactions by selling 4.53 million MSTR shares through its at-the-market program for net proceeds of 602.8 million USD. That money was split four ways:
- 369.7 million USD — purchased 4,603 BTC at an average of 80,318 USD per coin, taking total holdings to 845,050 BTC
- 151.8 million USD — STRC buybacks
- 50.7 million USD — STRC dividend payments
- 30 million USD — added to Strategy’s USD Cash account
As of August 30, Strategy reported 1.61 billion USD in USD Cash with another 5.1 billion USD held in its USD Reserve. The company also sold 1,638 BTC for 104.7 million USD between July 27 and August 2, directing part of its available capital toward preferred stock dividends and repurchases — a rare Bitcoin sale from the most famous accumulator in the market.
The Core Conflict: Why 100 USD Matters So Much
STRC was trading at 97.34 USD on Tuesday — less than 3 USD below par, but below it all the same. That gap is not cosmetic. Chief Executive Phong Le said in July that Strategy planned to resume issuing STRC once the security returned to par, linking the recovery directly to the company’s ability to fund future Bitcoin purchases.
“We’ll continue to build that. And yeah, when Stretch gets back to par, we’ll issue more. We’ll buy more Bitcoin,” Le said at the time, when STRC traded near 87 USD. Until then, Strategy cannot print new preferred shares without diluting existing holders below par — which is why the company keeps spending real dollars propping up the price.
The buybacks have escalated alongside the price: during the week ended July 26, Strategy repurchased just 25 million USD of STRC while the shares remained well below par. The willingness to pay an average 97.48 USD last week shows how close the company believes it is to escaping the discount.
Market Implications: Competition From Strive
Strategy no longer has the Bitcoin-treasury income trade to itself. Strive’s competing product, SATA, offers a 13% annualized dividend with payments every business day — versus STRC’s 12% paid twice a month. For September, Strive declared daily payments of 0.0516 USD per share across 21 business days, equivalent to 1.0836 USD for the full month.
SATA has stayed close to its own 100 USD par value for more than a week, letting Strive keep selling shares through its at-the-market program and directing proceeds toward Bitcoin purchases — including another 1,800 BTC acquired over the past week. Strive’s common stock, ASST, has gained roughly 60% this year, compared with a 15% decline for MSTR.
Institutional money, meanwhile, has been betting on STRC’s recovery. By late July, the preferred stock had become the largest holding in three major US preferred stock exchange-traded funds, which collectively held 756 million USD of STRC. Institutional holdings had increased 105%, while retail ownership fell from 78% to 71%.
The Verdict: What This Means for You
For Bitcoin investors, STRC’s slow climb back to par is worth watching because it is the gate on Strategy’s next phase of accumulation. A sustained return to 100 USD would let the company issue fresh preferred stock and convert income investors’ capital into Bitcoin demand. A renewed slide below — especially toward the June lows — would force Strategy to keep burning cash and possibly selling BTC to defend it.
For income investors, the lesson from STRC’s journey from 71 USD to 97 USD is that “perpetual preferred” does not mean safe. These instruments carry real price risk, and when the issuer is levered to Bitcoin, that risk multiplies. A 12% dividend on a security that can fall 25% is not the free lunch it might appear to be.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
635M spent to hold 97 against a 100 par. thats not support, thats a very expensive floor sweep
bought 1.56M shares at 97.48 avg. anyone who bought the june dip near 71 is up 36% while the company itself pays near par. funny dynamics
funny dynamics indeed. the company buying its own preferred at 97.48 is basically a guaranteed 2.5 percent pickup at redemption, easiest trade it will ever make
guaranteed pickup at redemption assumes they can keep funding buybacks with btc backed paper. 635m spent and the ceiling is still 100
its a pickup for the company. for anyone buying above 97.48 the same math runs in reverse, you donate the spread to saylor
buying above 97.48 to donate the spread to saylor is unironically how preferred floors work. someone always pays for the defense
1.56 million shares in one week at 97.48 and the ceiling at 100 still has not budged. whoever keeps selling into the buyback has deeper pockets than the 1B authorization
up 36% while the company pays 97.48 to defend 100. everyone in this trade is betting on the same redemption clock now
Exactly the point about the ETF flows. Three preferred funds now holding STRC as a top position means the buyback is basically servicing index demand at that point
635 million on buybacks and its still trading under 100. at some point you just accept the market is pricing in something you dont like
thats exactly it, 100 par acts like a hard ceiling. upside is capped by redemption risk, buybacks just defend the floor
The real story is the recovery from those June lows near 71 up to 97. Buyers came back regardless of the buyback machine.
71 to 97 is a 36% move, buybacks helped for sure but 151.8m in a single week is aggressive pacing imo
buyers came back because redemption at 100 caps the downside math. that recovery is spread arithmetic, not conviction
redemption at 100 capping the downside is why 97 trades like a bond. the 36 percent rally is just the spread closing, not conviction
1 billion authorization set in june and 635m already spent by end of august. at this pace the whole program is done before year end and STRC still wont touch par
done before year end and still under par would be a brutal headline. saylor retires the program and lets the market find the floor
dont forget they raised the dividend to 12 percent in the same framework. if the buyback pace holds, funding 97 par defense plus a 12 percent coupon starts eating into that 1.25 billion btc sale room fast
dont forget they raised the dividend to 12 percent in the same framework. if the buyback pace holds, funding 97 par defense plus a 12 percent coupon starts eating into that 1.25 billion btc sale room fast
12 percent coupon plus buybacks at 97.48, saylor is paying two ways to defend a floor he built himself. brilliant til the btc sale room thins out
12 percent dividend and a 1B buyback authorization in the same framework. saylor is essentially paying shareholders to defend his own floor at 97.48
12 percent coupon on top of 635m in buybacks, the btc sale room is doing all the work. one weak quarter and this math gets loud fast
1.56 million shares at 97.48 in a single week means they defended the floor at a 2.5 percent discount to par. cheap insurance until the sale room runs dry
635m to defend a 100 ceiling while ASST is up 60 and MSTR is down 15. the preferred holders are the only ones getting paid in this structure
151.8m in one week to keep the price under par. defending 97 with that much cash is a signal, just not the bullish kind
nobody mentions the dividends owed while doing this. buybacks at 97.48 plus preferred payouts is a lot of cash for a company that sells paper to buy btc
a 12 percent coupon plus a 1.25 billion btc sale room, all to defend a 2.5 dollar spread under par. saylor built an entire treasury firewall around STRC