Technique (MSTR), the bitcoin-focused company entity previously often called MicroStrategy, launched its Perpetual Stretch Most popular Inventory (STRC) late final month — an providing Govt Chairman Michael Saylor has described as the corporate’s “iPhone second.”
The STRC most well-liked inventory has already raised $2.5 billion, and a newly opened $4.2 billion at-the-market (ATM) program may prolong its scale even additional — providing high-yield dividends backed by bitcoin and designed to attraction to yield-seeking traders.
What’s STRC, and the way does it work?
STRC (marketed as “Stretch”) is a variable-rate, perpetual most well-liked inventory designed to ship secure pricing, robust yield, and easy accessibility for income-focused traders in search of oblique bitcoin publicity. The shares pay a month-to-month dividend—initially set at 9% annualized—based mostly on a $100 par worth. Technique could alter that dividend month-to-month, inside guidelines meant to maintain STRC buying and selling near its $100 goal worth.
Every share of STRC is overcollateralized with bitcoin at a ratio of roughly 5-to-1, which means that for each greenback of STRC issued, Technique holds roughly 5 {dollars}’ price of BTC. The safety sits senior to different most well-liked shares like STRD, STRK, and the agency’s frequent fairness, however stays junior to debt and the STRF most well-liked sequence.
Dividends are cumulative and compound if unpaid. Importantly, if any month’s fee is missed, a dividend “stopper” prompts — stopping payouts to junior securities till STRC is made entire. The inventory might be redeemed on the issuer’s possibility as soon as listed on Nasdaq (which it now’s), and it features a basic change put proper at liquidation worth plus any accrued dividends.
The safety is engineered to operate like a high-yield financial savings instrument with bitcoin backing — with out the volatility of direct crypto holdings or the period threat of conventional preferreds.
Technique raises $2.5 billion in STRC IPO
The corporate’s IPO of STRC raised roughly $2.5 billion by way of the issuance of 28 million shares priced at $90 every. The providing was introduced on July 21 and closed on July 29. Proceeds might be used for normal company functions, together with additional bitcoin purchases and dealing capital.
The board of administrators declared an preliminary month-to-month dividend of $0.80 per share, with fee scheduled for Aug. 31, 2025, to shareholders of report as of August 15.
Saylor described STRC as a clear, scalable instrument that solves the constraints of earlier capital instruments like convertible bonds and sophisticated long-duration most well-liked shares. The product was designed to attraction not solely to institutional allocators but additionally to yield-seeking retail traders.
Contained in the $4.2 billion ATM program
On July 31, Technique introduced a brand new gross sales settlement permitting the corporate to difficulty as much as $4.2 billion price of STRC shares by way of an at-the-market (ATM) providing. This provides Technique the power to faucet liquidity regularly, adjusting issuance based mostly on market circumstances and pricing.
Inner steering means that Technique intends to maintain issuance inside a slender band — avoiding gross sales beneath $99 or above $101 (earlier than charges), in keeping with its goal of sustaining a secure $100 buying and selling worth. The agency explicitly said it doesn’t plan to use this self-discipline to its different most well-liked fairness applications, reinforcing STRC’s distinctive positioning.
The ATM program permits Technique to fulfill capital wants flexibly, help its dividend coverage, and scale BTC acquisitions additional whereas preserving shareholder alignment.
Why Saylor calls STRC his ‘iPhone second’
Michael Saylor sees STRC not simply as one other capital-raising software — however as a turning level in company finance. Throughout Technique’s Q2 2025 earnings name on July 31, he referred to as the product his agency’s “iPhone second,” evaluating its potential to the type of client breakthrough that redefined a whole trade.
On the coronary heart of Saylor’s imaginative and prescient is STRC’s accessibility. Not like Technique’s earlier devices — resembling STRK, STRF, and STRD — which he praised as progressive however too complicated or unstable for mass adoption, STRC is designed to operate extra like a yield-enhanced financial savings account. “If I stroll down the road and also you ask 100 folks, ‘Would you like a high-yield checking account?’ 99 out of 100 say sure,” he mentioned, underscoring the simplicity of the pitch.
He believes STRC solves two core issues: it strips away long-term volatility by concentrating on brief period and low worth fluctuation, and it presents a constant premium over typical financial institution yields. “We’ve stripped right down to a one-month period and it pays 500 foundation factors above your checking account,” he mentioned, describing the instrument’s 9% variable month-to-month dividend.
Importantly, STRC is engineered to commerce close to par ($100), giving traders peace of thoughts — particularly these delicate to cost swings. Saylor emphasised that earlier merchandise misplaced retail traction when their principal worth fluctuated by 5–10%. In distinction, STRC’s purpose is to carry near par at the same time as bitcoin costs transfer, because of its heavy overcollateralization with BTC.
“If Stretch really hits its par and it trades with low volatility, then you could possibly, in principle, promote 100 billion {dollars} of it, 200 billion {dollars} of it,” he advised analysts. That, he argued, would allow Technique to massively scale its bitcoin holdings with out promoting any BTC — successfully utilizing its treasury as collateral to monetize liquidity at retail scale.
In Saylor’s view, this mixture — simplicity, stability, and yield — is what makes STRC transformational. Simply because the iPhone reimagined how customers interacted with cell computing, STRC may redefine how firms faucet capital markets in a bitcoin-native manner.
