Strategy Raises $4 Billion Cash Buffer as STRC Preferred Stock Climbs 30%

A Preferred Stock with a Bumpy 2026

STRC is a preferred stock issued by Strategy, the publicly traded company that holds bitcoin as its primary corporate asset. Unlike common shares, a preferred stock like STRC pays a fixed dividend—in this case 8% per year on a par value of $100 per share. Investors who buy preferred shares expect steady income payments and, ideally, a share price close to that $100 par.

STRC debuted in early 2026, but by late June the share price had slipped far below par, settling near $71.25 on June 26. That drop reflected wider anxiety: bitcoin's price had softened and some investors wondered whether Strategy could meet its preferred dividend obligations over the long run. The preferred stock was trading at a steep discount to what it was designed to be worth.

Strategy carries a heavy load of preferred dividends and debt payments. At the time of its second-quarter earnings call, management put the annual combined obligation at roughly $1.76 billion. When STRC sat at $71.25, the gap between the share price and $100 par looked wide, and some holders chose to sell rather than wait for the price to recover.

How Strategy Turned Bitcoin Into Cash

Strategy holds bitcoin as its primary treasury asset, but to fund dividends and build a US dollar reserve, the company made three separate bitcoin sales in 2026. Taken together, the three batches raised roughly $323 million in US dollars. Each transaction was reported through SEC disclosures, and the filings include the average price Strategy received per coin for each batch.

After all three batches, Strategy still held 842,138 BTC—a figure disclosed in SEC filings and available to market participants. CoinDesk reported a combined total of 5,226 BTC sold; a minor gap of about 32 BTC appears across different sources, most likely reflecting how the smallest May tranche was counted. Neither figure materially changes the story of how the company raised cash.

Selling existing bitcoin is not the same as issuing new coins. Strategy transferred coins it already owned to buyers in the open market; no new bitcoin was created in the process. The proceeds arrived as US dollars, which the company then directed toward preferred dividends, the STRC repurchase program, and the USD cash reserve it was building.

• Late May 2026: ~32 BTC sold for ~$2.5 million
• June 29–July 5, 2026: ~3,588 BTC for ~$216 million, average price near $60,000 per coin
• July 27–August 2, 2026: ~1,638 BTC for ~$104.7 million, average price near $63,957 per coin

From $2.55 Billion to $4 Billion in Six Weeks

The bitcoin sale proceeds alone did not reach $4 billion. Strategy also raised cash from equity markets twice in quick succession. At the close of the second quarter in June 2026, the company reported a US dollar reserve of $2.55 billion. On July 26, it completed a common stock offering that pushed the reserve to $3.75 billion—an increase of about $1.2 billion in one transaction.

A further $250 million arrived from a separate MSTR common stock share issuance shortly after, pushing the total above $4 billion. That reserve sits in US dollars—not bitcoin, not other assets—and is specifically designated to cover preferred dividends and debt payments. Strategy disclosed the reserve figures through an SEC Form 8-K, which is a current-report form that companies file to announce material financial events.

At roughly $1.76 billion per year in combined obligations, a $4 billion reserve covers about 27 months of payments. That runway gives Strategy time to manage its balance sheet without being forced to sell large amounts of bitcoin quickly. The size of the reserve, and the speed at which the company assembled it, appear to be key reasons STRC climbed off its June lows.

Buying Back STRC at a Discount to Par

In June 2026, Strategy's board authorized a Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program with a total cap of $1 billion. The program allows the company to buy its own preferred securities—including STRC—in the open market when those securities trade below par value. Buying back shares at a discount to their $100 par face value means Strategy retires obligations for less than their stated cost.

Strategy's first disclosed repurchase under the program covered the week of July 20 through July 26. The company bought 288,930 STRC shares at an average price of about $86.52, spending roughly $25 million. That left approximately $975 million of the $1 billion authorization available at that specific disclosure date. By August 5, a further $81 million in buybacks had reduced the remaining balance to about $893.8 million.

The program is a tool, not a promise. Strategy can choose how much to spend and when to spend it, up to the $1 billion ceiling. The buybacks reduce the total number of STRC shares outstanding, which can help support the share price over time—but the authorization gives management flexibility rather than committing the company to a fixed schedule or a specific price target.

Why the $4 Billion Reserve Helped STRC Climb 30%

From late June to early August, STRC moved from about $71.25 to the low-to-mid $90s—a rise of roughly 30%. Bitcoin stayed above $60,000 for several consecutive weeks through early August, easing some of the concern that had driven the preferred stock lower. Strategy's management, on its second-quarter earnings call, said the company is targeting September 8 as the date for STRC to return to its $100 par value.

The $4 billion reserve is the structural argument for that target. A company that can cover 27 months of preferred dividends and debt payments from a cash reserve is less likely to skip a dividend—and preferred shareholders care deeply about payment reliability. The repurchase program, by retiring shares at below-par prices, also reduces the company's long-term obligations and signals active management of the preferred stock.

Bitcoin's tendency to move sharply in both directions—which investors can explore with a bitcoin volatility tracker—means Strategy's balance sheet will keep shifting. The $4 billion reserve and the active buyback program are the company's chosen answers to that uncertainty. Whether STRC reaches par by September 8—the date management named publicly on the earnings call—depends on factors neither Strategy nor outside analysts can fully control.