Strategy Sells 32 BTC to Cover Dividends, STRC Slips Below $100

Strategy's high-yield preferred stock, STRC, came under pressure this week after the company sold a small amount of Bitcoin to help fund dividend payments—a decision that unsettled investors given years of firm "never sell"-style messaging from founder Michael Saylor. In a recent securities filing, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) disclosed it sold 32 BTC between May 26 and May 31 for about $2.5 million. The proceeds were designated to support preferred-stock distributions. The sale is immaterial versus the firm's Bitcoin holdings: the filing shows Strategy held more than 843,700 BTC prior to the transaction. It also marked the company's first Bitcoin sale since December 2022. Saylor had already hinted at the possibility. On Strategy's Q1 earnings call, he said the company would "probably sell some BTC to fund a dividend just to inoculate the market." STRC, which pays dividends, fell below its $100 reference price during the week, at one point trading as much as 5.3% under par. Across the same period, STRC and related crypto products traded roughly 4% below their earlier range. Strategy currently pays an annualized dividend rate of 11.5% on STRC, well above traditional dollar savings rates. STRC debuted in July 2025 with a 9% yield, and the payout has been increased seven times as the shares continued to trade below the $100 reference price. For June, the dividend terms call for a monthly payment equal to 0.96% of the $100 par value. Even so, STRC has already declined 3.8% this month, including sharper intraday moves. Weakness also spread to crypto-native products designed to mirror STRC exposure. DeFi protocols including Saturn and Apyx have issued STRC-linked, stablecoin-like tokens aimed at yield-focused traders, and those instruments slipped this week. Saturn's sUSDat, with a market value near $100 million, fell about 3.7% over the week. Apyx's apxUSD, partially backed by STRC, dropped roughly 4.1% in the same period. These tokens had traded near $1 for months as traders treated them as a stable-yield proxy tied to STRC. Bitcoin fell about 4.4% in the 24 hours following the reported sale. Over the past week, BTC is down roughly 12%, while Strategy's common stock has slid about 15%. The episode underscores how quickly sentiment can shift around high-yield instruments, particularly when the underlying support is a volatile asset like Bitcoin and when corporate actions run against prior public commitments. STRC is neither a bank product nor a money-market fund: it carries no FDIC or SIPC protection, and Strategy does not guarantee STRC's market price or dividend payments. STRC's market capitalization has expanded to roughly $10 billion—more than tripling since the start of the year—as investors sought high yields and indirect exposure to Strategy's Bitcoin-heavy balance sheet. The latest pullback is renewing debate over whether preferred shares and synthetic stablecoins should be treated as "stable" yield sources when underlying markets turn. A small BTC sale proved outsized in symbolic impact, revealing vulnerabilities in yield-chasing structures tied to Strategy's Bitcoin position. The broader takeaway: high headline yields backed by crypto-linked assets can reprice quickly when expectations or prices shift.