Retail investors make up roughly 80% of holders of Strategy’s “Stretch” shares (STRC), CEO Phong Le said, as the preferred-equity instrument has been used to buy more than $1 billion of Bitcoin this year. Le said retail buyers “prefer low-volatility, high-yield digital credit,” a characteristic Stretch is marketed to provide.
Strategy has leaned on Stretch to acquire Bitcoin while pitching it as a lower-volatility onramp to BTC exposure. Executive chairman Michael Saylor has increased sales and marketing for STRC after declines in both Bitcoin and Strategy’s common stock. In March, the company used about $1.2 billion raised through at-the-market sales of STRC to buy Bitcoin, though its most recent purchase was funded by selling common stock.
Saylor has described Stretch as a product for investors who believe in Bitcoin’s long-term prospects but cannot tolerate near-term volatility. He said the structure diverts the first 10%–11% of annual Bitcoin returns to the credit investor (the STRC holder). Strategy says the instrument is heavily overcollateralized and is betting Bitcoin will appreciate more than the roughly 11% annual credit yield, which would allow equity holders to capture upside while credit investors receive steady returns.
Stretch shares pay variable annual dividends that have recently been around 11.5%, a yield higher than prevailing U.S. Treasury rates. The securities are perpetual derivatives with no maturity date, so Strategy does not have to repay principal like a bond; investors can hold them indefinitely and receive dividends that are adjusted monthly. Those adjustments are designed to keep the trading price near $100 and give the instrument the feel of a high-yield, low-volatility savings vehicle rather than a typical equity or crypto asset.
Strategy’s common stock (MSTR) has declined about 19% year-to-date and roughly 71% from its July 2025 peak. In February the company said it would rely more on preferred-stock sales to fund Bitcoin purchases. This week, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing disclosed plans to raise as much as $21 billion by selling Strategy common stock and another $21 billion via new at-the-market programs for Stretch, signaling a continued push to use both equity and STRC issuance to expand the company’s Bitcoin holdings.
