STRC has fallen below its $100 reference price this week after Strategy sold a small amount of bitcoin to help fund preferred stock distributions.
Summary
- STRC fell below its $100 reference price after Strategy sold bitcoin to help fund preferred stock distributions.
- Strategy sold 32 BTC for about $2.5 million in its first bitcoin sale since December 2022.
- STRC’s annualized dividend rate has risen to 11.5% after repeated pressure below its par value.
- DeFi products tied to STRC also declined as Saturn sUSDat and Apyx apxUSD lost value this week.
According to Strategy’s latest securities filing, the company sold 32 BTC between May 26 and May 31 for about $2.5 million, with proceeds expected to support distributions on its preferred stock. The sale was small compared with Strategy’s bitcoin holdings, but it drew attention because founder Michael Saylor had spent years arguing against selling BTC.
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, held more than 843,700 BTC before the sale, according to the company’s filing. The filing also showed that the sale was the company’s first bitcoin disposal since December 2022. On Strategy’s Q1 earnings call last month, Saylor said the company would “probably sell some BTC to fund a dividend just to inoculate the market.”
STRC slips below ts $100 level
STRC, Strategy’s dividend-paying preferred stock, traded as much as 5.3% below par value at one point today. At the time covered by the report, STRC and related crypto products remained about 4% below their earlier trading range.
Strategy pays an annualized dividend rate of 11.5% to STRC holders, far above many traditional dollar savings products. The company launched STRC in July 2025 with a 9% rate, then raised the payout seven times as the preferred stock continued to trade below its $100 reference price.
According to the company’s dividend terms cited in the report, Strategy will pay a monthly dividend of 0.96% on the full $100 par value this month. However, STRC’s market price has already dropped 3.8% this month, including the sharper intraday fall.
Crypto wrappers track STRC losses
The pressure has spread to crypto markets through DeFi products partly tied to STRC. Protocols such as Apyx and Saturn created STRC-linked products for traders seeking access to STRC-like yields via crypto-native instruments.
According to the report, Saturn’s sUSDat has a market value near $100 million and has lost 3.7% this week. Apyx’s apxUSD, which is partly backed by STRC, has dropped 4.1% over the same period.
These products had traded near $1 for months, according to the report, because traders treated their STRC exposure as a source of stable yield. Their recent decline shows how losses in a preferred stock can move into synthetic stablecoins built around it.
Bitcoin price drop adds more pressure
At the same time, bitcoin fell by 4.4% over 24 hours following Strategy’s BTC sale, according to the report. Over the past week, BTC has declined 12%, while Strategy’s common stock has fallen 15%.
The report linked the stress in STRC to two events. First, Strategy sold BTC after years of public messaging from Saylor against selling Bitcoin. Second, BTC prices dropped soon after the sale, adding pressure on Strategy-linked assets.
Unlike US bank accounts or money market products, STRC does not carry FDIC or SIPC protection. Strategy also does not guarantee STRC’s market price or future dividends.
The report said STRC has grown to a market capitalization of about $10 billion, more than triple its size at the start of the year. Its fast growth came as investors chased its high dividend rate and its link to Strategy’s bitcoin balance sheet.
STRC’s decline has now raised fresh questions about products promoted as stable yield instruments. The latest move shows that a preferred stock backed by a bitcoin-heavy company can still lose value quickly when the underlying market turns against it.
