Bitcoin Magazine
Digital Credit: Strategy World Research Note For Institutions, Corporations, and Operators
I went to Strategy World last week. On the Bitcoin side, this conference might as well have been called “Stretch World.” STRC (Strategy Variable Rate Perpetual Stretch Preferred Shares) was the main item of discussion. SATA, another variable rate digital credit instrument issued by Strive, was also frequently mentioned.
Here are my thoughts, mainly addressed for institutional investors, corporations, operators, and analysts in the Bitcoin space
The Most Efficient Bitcoin Onramp
Strategy has decisively gone all-in on STRC, aiming to turn STRC into the biggest success story ever. The widespread adoption of STRC is potentially the most effective vector for Bitcoin adoption ever. To really understand why, we need to understand two things.
First, STRC’s value proposition is very easy to communicate to anyone within 10 seconds. Even though Strategy is probably not going to pitch it this way, most informed people think of STRC as a high yield cash alternative. Note that “cash alternative” and suggestions of being a “money market fund” incurs certain legal baggage from the use of such terminology.
But this is largely the economic effect of STRC, since it is designed to trade very close to its $100 par price while throwing off high yields (now 11.5%, though this is a variable rate instrument so it will change). Compare this very simple value proposition—high yield cash surrogate—to that of bitcoin’s. The median individual (and I’d argue up to 90% of individuals) will choose STRC over bitcoin. In fact, STRC does something that the spot Bitcoin ETFs never could, because STRC turns bitcoin into something that better meets the everyday needs of most people.
The second point is that Strategy uses the dollars raised by selling STRC to buy bitcoin, so someone buying STRC from Strategy’s ATM offering is effectively causing that money to go into bitcoin. Of course, we must not get the idea that every dollar invested in STRC is a dollar invested in bitcoin, since it is possible for one to buy the STRC shares from another STRC holder, who will likely not use that money to buy bitcoin. The point is that STRC opens the bitcoin market to buyers who would not consider or understand the value proposition of bitcoin.
Taken together, I believe STRC is the most efficient bitcoin onramp ever created. It may not be the onramp that most OG Bitcoiners imagined, but it is ultimately the one that works for the most people that can attract the most capital.
The capital STRC is drawing in is honestly pretty insane. It was the largest IPO in 2025. And it was a preferred stock! Since then almost an additional billion dollars have been issued via the ATM program. The ATM issuance makes up for 19% of STRC shares outstanding today. Over $3 billion has flowed into bitcoin thanks to STRC.
At Strategy World, multiple
