Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR), the leading Bitcoin treasury company led by Michael Saylor, witnessed its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (ticker: STRC) close at an all-time low of $89 on June 17, 2026. The shares briefly touched an intraday low near $88.50, marking roughly an 11% discount to the $100 par value the security was structured to target.
Launched in mid-2025, STRC functions as a perpetual preferred equity instrument with a variable dividend rate.
It was designed to deliver income to investors while channeling raised capital into additional Bitcoin purchases.
The adjustable payout mechanism gives management flexibility to support the share price when it drifts from par.
Proceeds from earlier issuances helped expand Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings to approximately 846,842 coins—representing about 4% of the total eventual supply—while the company also maintains a dedicated U.S. dollar reserve of roughly $1.1 billion earmarked for servicing preferred dividends and debt obligations.
At the current trading level, the effective yield for new buyers has risen to approximately 12.9%, well above the initial base rate, as the market demands greater compensation for perceived risk.
The decline has also temporarily halted Strategy’s at-the-market offering program for additional STRC shares, which had previously allowed the company to raise funds above par specifically for further Bitcoin acquisitions.
Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff has framed the price weakness as evidence of a potential self-reinforcing “death spiral.”
He argues that sustained trading below par could pressure the company to increase the dividend rate in an attempt to restore investor interest and return the price toward $100.
Higher payouts, however, would increase cash requirements.
Meeting those obligations might then require selling more common shares at discounts or drawing on Bitcoin reserves, actions that could intensify selling pressure on both Strategy’s equity and Bitcoin itself.
Schiff has previously suggested that the only clean exit from such a cycle would involve suspending the dividend entirely, which he believes would trigger an even sharper collapse in STRC and broader fallout for the company and the cryptocurrency.
Strategy has countered these concerns by highlighting its liquidity management.
The firm recently sold a modest 32 bitcoins in late May—the first such sale since it began accumulating in 2022—to cover dividend payments.
Executives have described fulfilling these obligations as a way to demonstrate commitment and enhance the credit profile of its Bitcoin-backed securities.
The company continues to add to its treasury through other channels, including recent purchases of more than 1,500 bitcoins funded by common stock sales.
The episode underscores the trade-offs in Strategy’s innovative capital structure.
While the variable-rate preferred stock creates a new form of Bitcoin-linked income product, it also introduces sensitivity to market sentiment, Bitcoin price movements, and the ongoing need to service yields.
Supporters view the model as a creative evolution that broadens participation in digital assets; critics see structural vulnerabilities that could amplify downside pressure during periods of volatility.
Bitcoin itself has traded in the mid-$60,000 range amid the recent turbulence, and Strategy’s common shares also declined on the day STRC hit its low. Market participants will most likely now be watching very closely whether the preferred stock stabilizes or requires further adjustments to its dividend mechanics in the coming weeks.
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