Strategy's STRC Cracks Its Peg: Is the World's Biggest Bitcoin Treasury in Trouble?

For years, Michael Saylor's Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) has been the ultimate Bitcoin bull, borrowing, issuing stock, and selling preferred shares to pile up more Bitcoin than any other public company. Now cracks are showing. The company's flagship preferred stock, STRC, has slipped below the $100 par value it was engineered to hold, hitting record lows, while Strategy's common stock (MSTR) has slumped and Bitcoin itself sits roughly 50% below its October high. Most strikingly, Strategy did something it had not in years: it sold Bitcoin to help fund dividend payments.

With 846,842 BTC on its balance sheet, Strategy is so large that its financing strains are now a market-wide concern, because any forced selling could ripple across crypto. So how serious is the STRC situation, could Strategy really be pushed to sell more Bitcoin, and what should traders watch? Here is

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STRC, Strategy's flagship “Stretch” preferred stock, has fallen below its $100 par to record lows (closing around $91.79 on June 16), signaling stress in the company's funding machine.

Strategy sold 32 BTC in late May, its first Bitcoin sale in years, to help fund STRC dividend payments, rattling sentiment.

The firm carries five preferred-stock series with combined dividend obligations of $750 million to $800 million a year, and its USD reserve has fallen from $2.25 billion to around $1 billion.

Strategy holds 846,842 BTC (bought for about $64 billion); a forced sale would be a major event for the whole crypto market.

The mechanism matters: Strategy can only issue new STRC at or above $100 par, so a sub-par STRC narrows the channel it uses to buy more Bitcoin.

MSTR closed around $112.53 on June 19; critics like Peter Schiff call the structure a “house of cards,” while Saylor downplays the risk.

STRC is Strategy's variable-rate perpetual preferred stock, nicknamed “Stretch.” It launched in July 2025 through a roughly $2.5 billion IPO (the largest US listing of 2025), priced near $90, and was designed to trade close to its $100 par value. Its dividend rate is variable (it started at 9% and is now around 11.5%), set monthly at Strategy's discretion within limits, specifically to keep the price near $100. It gives indirect Bitcoin exposure rather than direct ownership, and it trades on Nasdaq, not on any blockchain. For background on this category, see our explainer on Bitcoin treasury companies.

The peg matters because STRC is the company's primary funding channel. Strategy issues new STRC only at or above par to raise cash for Bitcoin purchases. When STRC trades below $100, that channel narrows. The stock has not traded at $100 since mid-May and closed around $91.79 on June 16, nearly 8% below par and a record low since launch.

Bitcoin weakness: STRC tends to move with BTC, which is about 50% below its October all-time high, hovering near $64,000.

Dividend-coverage fears: after using cash to repay $1.5 billion of convertible debt, Strategy has roughly seven months of dividend coverage left, down from 24, and its USD reserve has fallen from $2.25 billion to around $1 billion against $750 million to $800 million in annual preferred dividends.

The Bitcoin sale: Strategy sold 32 BTC in late May for about $2.5 million to fund STRC distributions, its first sale in years. MSTR fell 9.3% on June 2. The symbolism was large: the company that never sells, sold.

Rotation to rivals: investors have gravitated toward Strive's competing SATA preferred, which offers a higher yield (around 13%), daily dividends, and a debt-free structure, versus STRC's roughly 11.5% and semi-monthly payouts.

The fear is a feedback loop. As MSTR falls, the capital-raising engine of convertible notes, preferred issuance, and stock sales weakens, which means less cash to cover dividends and debt without selling Bitcoin, and the late-May sale showed that BTC sales are a live mechanism. Leveraged ETFs built on MSTR (such as MSTY and MSTU) amplify the stock's moves, which can trigger redemptions and add selling pressure. Analyst Willy Woo notes that around $1.01 billion of debt matures in September 2027, and that to avoid selling Bitcoin then, MSTR would need to trade above roughly $183 (a Bitcoin price near $91,500); at about $112, it is well below that.

The counterpoint: Strategy is not out of options. It still has roughly $25.7 billion of remaining MSTR issuance capacity and about $1 billion in reserve, and it is still buying, just in smaller amounts (1,587 BTC last week, funded through STRC). Saylor has said the goal is to “make STRC the best credit instrument in the world,” and some analysts argue that disciplined treasury management could actually strengthen institutional confidence. Forced selling is not imminent, but the buffer is clearly thinning.

Strategy holds 846,842 BTC, around 4% of all the Bitcoin in circulation and more than any other public company. A forced liquidation would be a significant supply shock and a blow to sentiment, which is why even the perception of stress (record-low STRC, the 32-BTC sale) has weighed on Bitcoin and on crypto-linked stocks like Coinbase and the miners. Peter Schiff has called the structure a “house of cards.” Whether or not you agree, STRC has become a crypto macro indicator worth watching, because it links the largest corporate Bitcoin holder's health directly to the price of BTC.

Key things to monitor: STRC's price relative to $100 par (can Strategy re-access that funding channel?), the USD reserve and any further Bitcoin sales disclosed in SEC filings, MSTR's premium or discount to its Bitcoin, and BTC's price, the ultimate driver. For positioning, treat this as headline and volatility risk for Bitcoin. On MEXC, you can trade BTC/USDT with take-profit and stop-loss orders and controlled leverage, while longer-term holders may prefer to dollar-cost average rather than chase. Strategy-related headlines can move Bitcoin in the short term, but do not over-index on a single company.

Strategy is not collapsing. It still holds a colossal Bitcoin stash and retains real capacity to raise capital. But STRC slipping below par, a thinning cash reserve, and that first Bitcoin sale in years all point to a funding model under genuine strain for the first time. The company built an elegant machine to turn Wall Street capital into Bitcoin, and in a downturn that machine can run in reverse. For now, forced selling is a tail risk rather than a base case, but it is one every Bitcoin trader should keep on the radar.

 

Disclaimer: This content is for educational and reference purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice. Digital asset investments carry high risk. Please evaluate carefully and assume full responsibility for your own decisions.