STRC Drops 26% Below Par as MSTR Hits 16‑Month Low

A sell-off in bitcoin pushed Strategy’s STRC perpetual preferred stock to a record low on Thursday, trading as low as $74, about 26% below its $100 par, and sent the company’s common shares to their lowest level since February 2024.

STRC recovered to roughly $77.50 after the session low. Strategy’s common stock dropped below $87, extending a decline of more than 50% in a little over a month. The moves coincided with bitcoin briefly returning to the $58,000 range for the first time since October 2024 ahead of a $10.6 billion quarterly options expiry scheduled for Friday.

Over the past year, Strategy raised capital for bitcoin purchases by issuing perpetual and other preferred securities, including STRC. STRC carries a cumulative dividend set at 11.5% annually, creating recurring cash obligations for the company.

Onchain analytics firm CryptoQuant recommended pausing further bitcoin purchases and rebuilding cash reserves. CryptoQuant estimated annualized preferred dividend obligations at about $1.2 billion and put the company’s cash holdings at roughly $1.4 billion.

Matt Walsh, general partner at Castle Island Ventures, wrote that the situation appears to be a timing and capital markets problem rather than an asset coverage issue. He urged prioritizing liquidity rebuilding, repurchasing or refinancing convertible notes, and pausing additional bitcoin purchases to lower the risk of forced sales under stress.

Pressure on funding also affected another perpetual preferred, SATA, which declined to a record low near $84 on Thursday. During last week’s STRC sell-off, SATA dipped to around $94 before returning to within about 1% of its $100 par value.

Equities analysis firm Benchmark maintained a Buy rating and a $570 price target on Strategy, describing the recent declines as a stress test of the company’s funding model. Benchmark noted that STRC has a variable dividend mechanism and was not designed to trade at a fixed price.

Strategy’s chairman, Michael Saylor, has focused the company on building a large bitcoin position. The firm navigated the 2021–2022 crypto downturn and later experienced a multi‑year rally in its shares. The recent market moves have drawn attention to the company’s cash position, dividend commitments and convertible debt while it continues to acquire bitcoin.