This week, Eastern Eight Time, Strategy has once again linked its fundraising capability in the traditional capital market, through a perpetual preferred stock named STRC, with its grand narrative of "unlimited buying of Bitcoin." According to statistics from several media outlets, this company has raised nearly 3 billion USD this year using tools like STRC, with an extremely singular direction for the funds — continue to buy Bitcoin, transforming the company into a purer Bitcoin treasury. On one end is a preferred stock product that promises an annualized 11.5% return with low volatility; on the other end is the extremely volatile Bitcoin spot market, which can halve or double in price. This structure of “quasi-debt funding connecting extreme risk assets” sharpens a question: when retail investors hold what appears to be a stable fixed income, and Saylor uses this to leverage and accumulate Bitcoin, who is truly bearing the risk in this long-term trade?

The Transformation from Software Company to Bitcoin Treasury

Under the leadership of Michael Saylor, Strategy has basically completed a complete turn from a traditional software company to a “publicly listed Bitcoin treasury.” Public data indicates that the company currently holds a cumulative 762,099 BTC, far ahead of all listed companies. Simply observed from this year's rhythm, Strategy has raised nearly 3 billion USD through various capital tools like STRC, continually using these funds to buy Bitcoin, with an accumulation path that can be summarized as “aggressive and one-sided” — as long as financing can be obtained, the accumulation continues, with almost no signals of reducing holdings released to the market.

Unlike most traditional enterprises viewing Bitcoin or gold-like assets as “a small allocation on the balance sheet,” Strategy chooses a more extreme treasury management model: the company's equity is deeply tied to the price of Bitcoin. The capital market’s pricing of Strategy's stock has largely equated to pricing a highly leveraged Bitcoin holding portfolio — the cash flow and profits from business operations become secondary. In this structure, Saylor transforms the company into a long-term leveraged tool facing the public market, while STRC serves as the key entry point for this recent acceleration of leverage.

11.5% Perpetual Preferred Stock: Who Are Retail Investors Providing Long-term Ammunition To?

STRC is designed as a perpetual preferred stock operating around a 100 USD face value, aiming for relatively mild price fluctuations but offering highly attractive coupon rates: 11.5% annualized yield. From reports by Bloomberg and company statements, STRC is explicitly positioned as the “main financing tool for the continuous purchase of Bitcoin,” while Saylor himself has packaged it as a “low-volatility yield instrument trading around 100 USD face value.” In other words, for the issuer, STRC resembles a long-term, reusable ammunition pipeline for increasing Bitcoin holdings; for investors, it appears as a note that combines high interest with relative stability.

It is even more intriguing to consider the structure of the holders. Multiple crypto media outlets cite data indicating that about 80% of STRC is held by retail investors, meaning a large group providing long-term funds and locking in 11.5% coupon rates are actually small to medium investors participating through brokerage accounts, not a few institutions. The imagery thus becomes clear: retail investors hand over their money to Strategy, hoping to gain a “high-yield, low-volatility” fixed-income asset; Strategy uses this cost-effective, long-duration funding to leverage in Bitcoin for long-term bets. From the perspective of financial engineering, the essence of such digital credit tools is to utilize quasi-debt funding to bear the long-term directional risks of Bitcoin, leaving almost all price elasticity on the company’s equity and Bitcoin asset side.

High Yield vs. Bitcoin Volatility: How to Account for This Risk Exchange

From the structural design perspective, STRC holders receive fixed coupon + preferred stock rights, while Strategy uses this funding to buy Bitcoin, capturing potential upward elastic income. Preferred shareholders enjoy priority in dividends and certain claims in liquidation but do not share in the multiple gains arising from Bitcoin's price surges; these gains are reflected more in the long-term asset net value of the company and the expansion of ordinary stock prices.

If we extend the time frame to imagine three scenarios: during a dramatic rise in Bitcoin prices, Strategy’s balance sheet expands rapidly, ordinary shareholders and management are at the top of the income chain, and nearly all upward movement in Bitcoin belongs to them; meanwhile, STRC investors quietly receive a fixed 11.5% yield, appearing stable but missing that explosive income. In the event of a significant drop in Bitcoin, the company's on-paper assets shrink, stock prices, and refinancing capabilities face pressure simultaneously, and the leverage metrics in financial reports deteriorate, at which point STRC’s preferential attributes are truly put to the test—whether the coupon can be maintained and whether the company will choose to repurchase or adjust the capital structure all depend on Strategy's cash flow and refinancing abilities. During a long period of sideways trading, STRC holders seem to receive the optimal scenario: they continue to receive 11.5% coupons, Bitcoin price volatility is limited, and the company’s asset value does not significantly shrink, while ordinary shareholders bear more of the opportunity costs.

Thus, retail investors seemingly obtain a “high yield + low volatility” asset combination, but are actually carrying a composite exposure of company credit risk, refinancing risk, and the safety of preferred stocks in extreme markets. Once Bitcoin undergoes a prolonged bear market, or if market confidence in Strategy's model turns, the safety cushion of STRC may become much thinner than the face value suggests — that is the real difficulty of this risk exchange.

Bitcoin Treasury Arms Race: MARA Exits, Saylor Fills the Gap

Within the context of Bitcoin-based corporate treasuries, a reordering is also happening within the industry. According to data from a single source, mining company MARA recently sold 15,133 BTC, leading to a noticeable decrease in its holdings; at the same time, Twenty One Capital leaped to the second position in the rankings with 43,514 BTC in holdings, becoming a new heavyweight holding entity besides Strategy. This comparison is not merely a numbers game but reflects differing understandings of the “Bitcoin treasury” role by different companies: some opt to realize profits at high levels to protect stock prices and repair balance sheets; others insist on locking up funds, attempting to strengthen the company’s long-term narrative with Bitcoin assets.

Compared to MARA’s reduction strategy, Strategy’s approach is almost a reverse mirror. It has not liquidated holdings despite improved market sentiment but instead continues to raise funds and buy coins through structured tools like STRC, trying to increase positions while peers opt for “taking profits” to solidify and even expand its symbolic status on the Bitcoin treasury ranking. This approach sends a strong long-term bullish signal to the market and also objectively increases the entire system's dependence on Strategy as a single entity — as more Bitcoin concentrates in the hands of a few listed companies, their financial decisions and refinancing conditions begin to amplify market expectations.

Retail Investors Navigating Price Shock Waves: The Middle Ground of Digital Credit

From the perspective of retail investors, not buying Bitcoin directly but “buying money for Saylor to use” reflects a typical psychological structure: wanting to participate in the high-yield story brought by Bitcoin, while fearing to endure intra-day fluctuations of tens of percentage points in spot accounts, and even more unwilling to face liquidation risks in futures and high-leverage derivatives. High-yield preferred stocks like STRC are thus packaged as a digital credit product — the entry point is a familiar brokerage account, the face value aligns with traditional financial contexts, yet the underlying penetrates into Bitcoin treasuries and company balance sheets.

For many traditional investors, directly holding BTC or operating contracts means crossing dual thresholds of cognition and compliance; purchasing a high-yield preferred stock that trades in mainstream markets and is issued by a listed company represents a form that is easier to convince investment committees, families, and oneself. Compared to a Bitcoin Spot ETF or mining company stocks, STRC occupies a relatively unique position in terms of yield and volatility characteristics: ETFs closely track Bitcoin prices, with fluctuations consistent with spot prices; mining company stocks layer in operational costs, production cycles, and regulatory risks, resulting in complex valuation logic. STRC’s logic is more straightforward — sacrificing most of the upside elasticity for an 11.5% fixed income and a relatively controlled price range, packaging the Bitcoin story as a “high-yield credit asset” that can be included in traditional asset allocation reports.

When the Treasury Becomes a Leveraged Hub: Who is Naked in This Long-term Game?

In summary, Strategy is bundling retail funds, Bitcoin assets, and company equity together through STRC, constructing a complex long-term game setting: retail investors provide near-quasi-debt long-term funds, gaining fixed coupons and preferential status; the company transforms this funding into a continued leveraged exposure to Bitcoin; while ordinary shareholders stand at the top of the income chain, enjoying premiums from Bitcoin price increases and the amplification of market sentiment, along with corresponding downside risks. The treasury is no longer just a warehouse passively holding assets but is gradually transforming into a leveraged hub around Bitcoin.

The real suspense lies in the fact that Bitcoin will not always exist in a one-sided bull market. If it enters a phase of long-term oscillation or deep retracement, can this model of relying on high-yield financing to continuously hoard Bitcoin smoothly digest the pressure of cash flow and refinancing? When the interest rate environment, regulatory attitudes, or market risk preferences change, whether the 11.5% coupon level remains attractive enough to easily secure adequate long-term funds is a question that will take time to answer.

It is foreseeable that Strategy's path will not be unique. As Bitcoin's role in global assets increases, more listed companies may replicate or variate similar digital credit tools in their own way, using preferred stocks, convertible bonds, or other structured products to draw traditional funds into the Bitcoin asset pool. For investors, the future will require tracking not only “annualized yields” or “how much Bitcoin is held,” but rather more finely monitoring the dynamic balance between financing costs, holding scales, and market volatility: who is footing the bill for whose risk, and who is using others' risks to exchange for their own long-term chips.

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