BroadChain News, April 28 - Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) has launched a perpetual preferred stock STRC (Stretch) with a target par value of $100, maintaining price stability through monthly floating dividends. As of March 31, the nominal scale reached $5 billion, with a peak daily trading volume exceeding $300 million (March data). This instrument has provided Strategy with over $3.5 billion in BTC purchasing funds, becoming its most important financing channel. As of April 12, Strategy's balance sheet held 780,897 BTC, with a leverage ratio of 33%, and the remaining STRC ATM issuance capacity is approximately $21.6 billion.
The core innovation of STRC lies in converting fixed-income demand into BTC buying pressure. When STRC trades near $100, Saylor issues new STRC through ATM (accounting for about 40% of daily trading volume), uses the proceeds to purchase BTC, and then issues MSTR common stock at a price above NAV (mNAV > 1x) to deleverage. Ultimately, $100 million in daily trading volume can drive approximately $120 million in BTC purchases. However, the fragility of this mechanism lies in its underlying cyclical nature: STRC stabilizes at $100 because investors believe it will stabilize; Saylor maintains this belief by continuously increasing dividends. This anchor is not backed by collateral but sustained by confidence, maintained through continuous dividend auctions without formal caps. Once confidence breaks, auction costs will become increasingly high.
For investors, STRC offers Sharpe ratio-optimized returns in favorable environments but implies a "selling put options" structure. NYDIG describes it precisely: "It resembles shorting a put option covered by Bitcoin assets—profiting from the downside risk of BTC declines eroding the asset buffer." The key question is whether STRC will enter a self-reinforcing downward spiral. The answer is yes, but specific conditions must be met. The mechanism has three interconnected failure paths: First stage, BTC falls below the $100 anchor; if BTC drops another 50%, the leverage ratio will be pushed to about 66%, STRC credit quality deteriorates, and the price falls below $100 (which has occurred three times); Second stage, mNAV falls below 1x, triggering mandatory redemption; Third stage, redemption triggers a sell-off, forming a death spiral.
We estimate that the probability of mNAV falling below 1x triggering conditions in the second half of 2026 is 70%, at which point STRC will present a buy point of $85-90. If the trigger does not occur, it means Saylor has successfully created a new category of BTC-native credit instruments. Whether traditional fixed-income investors are truly willing to accept reflexive risk for a 700 basis point spread will be key to determining STRC's fate.