Strategy and Strive have used preferred stock to buy nearly 136,000 bitcoin since 2025, but growing dividend payments now compete with new purchases. This matters because it tests whether bitcoin treasury companies can keep buying without selling bitcoin to cover payouts.
What actually happened
Perpetual preferred stock funded purchases of 135,979 bitcoin through 5 October 2026, according to Fidelity Digital Assets. That is more than 0.5% of bitcoin's maximum supply. Fidelity analyst Zack Wainwright sized the bitcoin-focused preferred market at roughly $12 billion (USD), against a $150 trillion (USD) global fixed-income market. Strategy's STRC preferred, paying a variable dividend near 12%, raised $7.5 billion (USD) in 2026 through late July, said James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares. Strategy's latest weekly update showed $193 million (USD) spent repurchasing STRC, against just 267 bitcoin bought, Butterfill said. The company raised its preferred buyback authorization to $3 billion (USD). Mark Palmer of StoneX said perpetual preferreds have brought bitcoin to income investors, a group that ETFs never reached. Strategy's preferred stock trades around $99.40.
How we got here
Strategy pioneered this model with its first preferred offering, STRK, in February 2025. Since then it has issued five classes of preferred shares, becoming what analysts call a bellwether for the strategy. Strive followed with its own preferred, SATA. The structure sits between debt and common equity, paying regular dividends but carrying no voting rights, letting companies raise cash without diluting control or setting a fixed repayment date. Bitcoin spot ETFs launched earlier and have pulled in about $57 billion (USD) in net inflows, holding roughly $106 billion (USD) in assets, Butterfill said. Preferred stock emerged as a parallel channel reaching investors who want yield, not direct bitcoin exposure.
Why this matters for you
For Strategy and Strive shareholders, growing dividend obligations mean less cash available for new bitcoin purchases. Alex Blume of Two Prime noted that preferred prices react to management decisions and capital market conditions, not just bitcoin's price, creating volatility, as seen when STRC dipped into the $70 (USD) range in late June. Below-par trading could make new issuance unattractive, pushing companies toward buybacks instead of bitcoin buying, Mark Palmer said. For yield-focused investors, these instruments offer bitcoin-linked income without owning the asset directly. For bitcoin itself, continued treasury company demand depends on this financing channel staying healthy, since weaker sentiment could slow or reverse purchases, Butterfill said.
The bigger question
If dividend obligations keep growing faster than bitcoin purchases, can preferred-stock-funded treasury companies keep expanding their bitcoin holdings? Or will buybacks and dividend payments eventually outweigh new buying? The answer could decide whether this financing model becomes a lasting source of bitcoin demand or a temporary one, dependent on favorable sentiment and share prices near par value.
What to watch
Analysts will watch whether Strategy's and Strive's preferred shares stay near par value, a threshold Mark Palmer says determines whether new issuance remains attractive. Strategy's weekly purchase updates, like the one showing just 267 bitcoin bought against $193 million (USD) in STRC buybacks, will signal whether dividend costs are crowding out purchases.
