MicroStrategy’s carefully engineered perpetual preferred stock — the Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, ticker STRC — is trading in the high $80s, well below its $100 par value. That’s a problem. The company can only sell new STRC shares at or above par, meaning the discount effectively stalls the machine that’s been fueling the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasury. CEO Michael Saylor says MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin and cash reserves now exceed its debt by roughly $48 billion, but the preferred stock’s slide is raising questions about the structure’s resilience.
Why the discount matters
STRC was designed to trade near $100 with monthly dividend resets, acting as a steady capital-raising tool. Instead, it’s trading in the high $80s. That’s not just a paper loss for holders — it blocks MicroStrategy from issuing more shares to buy Bitcoin. The company has raised over $60 billion in total and now holds about 843,700 BTC, more than any other public company. But the preferred stock isn’t collateralized by Bitcoin and carries only a preferred claim on residual assets, as Strategy’s filings make clear. That’s a key distinction: if things go south, STRC holders don’t get first dibs on the crypto.
What analysts are saying
Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe argues STRC can’t break its cycle unless Bitcoin crashes to $10,000. He expects it to return near par within a week. James Van Straten, another analyst, says the panic misreads STRC. He notes that retail investors hold about 80% of the stock, and the real issue is Saylor’s messaging about volatility. The timing isn’t great — Bitcoin was near $63,700 as of June 20, down from its highs but still far above the levels that nearly broke the company in late 2022. Back then, after the FTX collapse, Bitcoin fell below $16,000 and MicroStrategy’s debt briefly exceeded its Bitcoin and cash by about $300 million. That memory lingers.
Small sales and a dividend shift
MicroStrategy has actually sold small amounts of Bitcoin twice: first in 2022, when it sold 704 BTC for a tax benefit, and again this year, when it sold 32 BTC to help cover dividends. Economist Peter Schiff has described the whole structure as a house of cards. Meanwhile, shareholders approved a move to semi-monthly STRC dividends that takes effect at the end of June 2026. That change could alter the stock’s appeal, but it doesn’t fix the immediate discount problem. For now, Saylor’s Bitcoin-buying engine is running on one less cylinder — and the market is watching to see if STRC climbs back to par before the next big purchase.
