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Strategy STRC
STRC is a listed Strategy preferred security, not a stablecoin or a redeemable Bitcoin product.
What the numbers actually mean.
↗ Strategy STRC dashboard
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.
This is asset coverage at cost basis, not a liquidation guarantee. The Bitcoin is Strategy's, not collateral pledged to STRC; in insolvency the BTC could realise more or less than its $63.9B cost, and debt is paid in full before any preferred sees a dollar. Coverage falls if Strategy adds debt or preferred, or if BTC is sold.
Source: Strategy 10-Q Q1 2026 (filed 2026-05-06) and BTC-holdings 8-K (filed 2026-05-18), as transcribed in STRC's backing summary; figures as of May 17, 2026.
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.
Same score, different shape.
Each spoke is one of the eight factors behind Strategy STRC's 7.9/10, plotted 0–10 and ordered by methodology weight. The filled shape is the product's risk profile. Two products can share an overall score and still have opposite silhouettes — a balanced octagon is a very different risk than a spike on one axis with thin edges everywhere else. Strategy STRC is strongest on liquidity / exit depth (9/10) and thinnest on peg design (6.9/10).
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 (~$9.3B market cap, the largest in the stack), (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 (~$9.3B market cap, the largest in the stack), (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 (~$9.3B market cap, the largest in the stack), (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 (~$9.3B market cap, the largest in the stack), (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.
The receipts.
Every figure on Strategy STRC traces to a primary document. These are the ones we read — open any of them.
Cumulative dividends with stopper, the $101 optional-redemption call ceiling, monthly rate reset floored at SOFR, and STRC’s #2 waterfall position behind STRF.
Return-of-capital tax treatment (no E&P), the “no obligation” trading-band disclaimer, and the IRS fast-pay-stock risk factor.
Q1 2026 STRC dividend payments and the BTC-coverage figures behind the ~7.1x / ~4.1x stack coverage.
Bitcoin holdings of 843,738 BTC at $63.87B aggregate cost as of 2026-05-17.