The Pref Stack

Issue #003 · Week of June 3rd-9th, 2026

The weekly read on bitcoin treasury preferreds. Published by BitcoinQuant.

The Cover

The first real stress test of the bitcoin treasury trade arrived this week.

Bitcoin fell below $60,000 intraday Friday for the first time since October 2024. MSTR closed Tuesday at $117.53, down roughly 28% in two weeks. STRC traded as low as $94.50 intraday and closed Tuesday at approximately $96.18. The preferred stack widened across the board.

Strategy announced on June 8th that shareholders approved a move from monthly to semi-monthly STRC dividends. The first semi-monthly record date will be June 30th, with the first semi-monthly payment July 15th.

Strategy also went back to buying. Between June 1st and June 7th, the company purchased 1,550 bitcoin at an average price of $65,332 for approximately $101.3 million, funded by MSTR common ATM proceeds. The USD Reserve grew to $1B. No preferred stock was issued during the week.

Strive went the other direction in scale but matched Strategy in symbolism. Between June 2nd and June 7th, Strive purchased exactly 32 bitcoin at an average price of $63,911 for approximately $2.1 million. The number is not a coincidence. Two weeks ago Strategy sold 32 bitcoin. This week Strive bought exactly 32 back. Total Strive holdings now stand at 19,032 bitcoin.

Two issuers, two structural moves, one asset class entering its first real test. Let's get into it.

The Stack

Every instrument in the universe is now trading below par. STRF lost its premium and now yields 10.49%, the first time in months it has traded below $100. STRD's yield expanded to 14.77%, widening the spread within the Strategy stack to 428 bps from STRF on the senior end. The universe has repriced as a credit product, not a yield product.

Issuer Watch

Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR, STRC, STRF, STRK, STRD). Two material disclosures this week, both consequential.

First, the buying resumed. The June 8th 8-K disclosed that Strategy purchased 1,550 bitcoin between June 1st and June 7th at an average price of $65,332 per coin for approximately $101.3 million. Holdings now stand at 845,256 bitcoin at an aggregate cost of $63.97 billion, or $75,680 per coin average. The purchases were funded entirely by MSTR common ATM proceeds: 1,409,600 shares sold for $181.0 million net. No STRC, STRF, STRK, or STRD shares were issued during the period.

This matters for three reasons. The 32 bitcoin sold during the May 26th–31st window was a one-off, not the start of a pattern. The cadence of buying through MSTR common ATM, rather than STRC issuance, signals that Strategy is preserving STRC capacity for stronger market conditions. The USD Reserve grew from $900 million to $1B week over week, reversing the "deterioration" narrative from last month.

Second, the structural change. On June 8th, Strategy's shareholders approved Proposal 5 at the 2026 Annual Meeting, amending the STRC certificate of designations to move dividend payments from monthly to semi-monthly. The first semi-monthly record date is June 30th, with the first semi-monthly payment on July 15th. Record dates will fall on the 15th and the last day of each month going forward. Phong Le framed the change as designed to "stabilize price, dampen cyclicality, drive liquidity, and grow demand."

With Strive's SATA about to start daily dividends and now Strategy's STRC offering semi-monthly dividends, the bitcoin treasury preferred market is now in an active innovation cycle around dividend cadence.

Strive (Nasdaq: ASST, SATA).

Strive disclosed on June 8th that it purchased 32 bitcoin between June 2nd and June 7th at an average price of approximately $63,911 per coin for approximately $2.1 million. The number is exactly what Strategy sold during the May 26th–31st window. Funny. The optics are interesting. One issuer sells 32, the other buys exactly 32 back at a lower price.

Total Strive holdings now stand at 19,032 bitcoin. Strive's prior purchase, between May 23rd and June 1st, was substantially larger: 2,500 bitcoin at $74,092 for $185.2 million, bringing total holdings to 19,000 before this week's symbolic add. Cash and cash equivalents grew from $93.3 million to $137.3 million over the same window. Class A shares outstanding increased to 69,410,645 by June 5th from 69,089,145 the week prior. SATA shares outstanding held steady at 7,513,907.

CEO Matt Cole announced in late May that Strive intends to increase both the ASST and SATA ATM programs by $2.1 billion each, framing the move as a response to demand for the company's listed securities. ASST stock rose 12.36% on Monday, June 8th on the bitcoin purchase disclosure.

The Spread

The credit thesis we laid out two weeks ago was tested this week, and it held.

After Strategy sold 32 bitcoin two weeks ago, the bear take was that the sale was forced and that a second, larger sale was coming. We argued the opposite. The sale was a deliberate signal to credit rating agencies that the bitcoin reserve is a working corporate asset, not dormant collateral. Selling at a small scale, with explicit disclosure tying proceeds to preferred dividends, was the textbook signal a rating analyst would want to see.

Four data points this week confirmed that read.

Strategy went back to buying. 1,550 bitcoin acquired between June 1st and June 7th at $65,332 average, $101.3 million total. Funded entirely through MSTR common ATM, with zero preferred issuance. If the bear take had been correct, this week would have shown a larger second sale, or no buying at all. Instead, Strategy reversed course on the same flow.

The USD Reserve grew. $900 million on May 31st to $1B on June 7th. The cash position is moving in the right direction, not deteriorating.

The STRC rate held at 11.50%. If management believed the peg was breaking, they had a clear opportunity to raise the rate at the June 1st reset. They did not.

And STRC went semi-monthly. This was approved at the June 8th annual meeting after sitting on the proxy for a while.

Strategy is treating the bitcoin reserve as part of the working capital structure, expanding the USD Reserve, holding the dividend rate steady, and enhancing STRC's structural design. That is exactly the playbook of an issuer pursuing investment grade ratings on its senior preferred stack.

For instrument selection, the read is unchanged from last week with one update. STRC at sub-par with an effective yield near 12%, semi-monthly payments coming, and a held rate is more attractive than it was a week ago. STRF breaking par for the first time in months is the casualty of the week and the cleanest single signal of how the market is repricing the senior tranche under stress. SATA broke par for the first time since issuance, with the daily dividend transition next Tuesday as the structural catalyst that could pull it back toward $100. STRK and STRD continue to widen and warrant their own sustained analytical treatment, which we are giving STRK in The Standout this week.

The credit thesis is not bulletproof. A larger Strategy bitcoin sale next week would weaken it. Sustained bitcoin weakness below $60,000 would weaken it. But the data on the table right now is a constructive read on the senior preferreds, and a more constructive read on the asset class as a whole than the market sentiment would suggest.

The Standout: STRK

This week's Standout comes from a request by Justin, one of our loyal readers. Shoutout Justin! Keep the suggestions coming, reply to any issue with an instrument you want us to dig into.

The market is pricing STRK as the worst senior fixed perpetual in the Strategy stack, but it might be the most undervalued instrument in the universe.

STRK is Strategy's 8% Convertible Perpetual Preferred. At an approximate Tuesday close in the high $60s, the conversion option into MSTR common at the original strike is deeply out of the money. The market response has been to discount the conversion feature to near zero and price STRK as if it were just a low-coupon fixed perpetual. That treatment overlooks three things.

First, STRK dividends are cumulative. Unlike STRD, missed payments accrue rather than disappear. At a current yield in the 11%+ range with cumulative protection, STRK offers more income certainty than STRD at a similar yield, not less.

Second, the conversion option is free optionality, not zero optionality. At STRK's current price, the MSTR call embedded in the instrument has essentially no value priced into it. If MSTR recovers toward 2025 levels at any point over the perpetual life, that "free" call becomes worth real money. You are paying nothing for an option that could materially outperform the dividend yield over a multi-year horizon.

Third, STRK sits senior to STRD in Strategy's preferred capital stack. Same credit, same underlying balance sheet, but STRD trades wider despite being structurally junior. That spread is a market inefficiency, not exactly a credit signal.

The setup is not riskless. The conversion option is far enough out of the money that a continued MSTR slide makes it less valuable, and a cumulative dividend is only as good as the issuer's ability to pay it. But for buyers willing to accept Strategy credit risk at all, STRK at current prices offers more total return optionality than any other instrument in the universe. The market is treating it as a damaged convertible. We think it is closer to a free option attached to a senior fixed perpetual.

The Pipeline

Key dates ahead:

• SATA: daily dividends begin Tuesday, June 16th, 2026. Final monthly dividend pays June 15th.
• STRC: last monthly record date June 15th, last monthly payment June 30th. First semi-monthly record date June 30th, first semi-monthly payment July 15th. Current rate maintained at 11.50%.
• STRF, STRK, STRD: quarterly dividends payable June 30th to holders of record June 15th.

Watch list:

• SATA price behavior post-June 16th. The daily dividend transition is an incredible experiment in preferred design we have seen in years. Watch whether daily payments pull SATA back to par.
• STRC June 30th rate decision. The first semi-monthly cadence is also the first opportunity to test whether the structural change has the demand effect Strategy designed it to have.
• Strategy bitcoin purchase pace. The 1,550 bitcoin buy during June 1st–7th reversed the bear narrative. Watch the June 15th 8-K for whether the buying pace continues or slows.
• ASST and SATA ATM refresh. Strive announced plans to expand both programs by $2.1 billion each. New shelf capacity would extend the funding runway materially.

Closing

Bitcoin dropped under $60K this week, every preferred traded below par, yields blew out across the curve. Rough week on paper.

Then some cool news came out. Strategy bought 1,550 bitcoin, grew the USD Reserve to $1B, held the STRC rate at 11.50%, and got the semi-monthly dividend amendment over the line. Strive bought exactly 32 bitcoin at lower prices, which is hilarious of them. Both issuers finished the week stronger than they started it.

As a baseball fan, watching Strategy and Strive operate is starting to feel like watching the Dodgers and the Yankees. Two dominant franchises, completely different DNA. Strategy is the Dodgers: established gold standard, biggest balance sheet in the league, deepest roster of preferred instruments, the franchise everyone else is currently measured against. Strive is the Yankees: hungry, aggressive, spending big to build a competing dynasty, throwing structural punches like daily dividends to take share. Both are built to win. Both are going to keep showing up to the postseason. The interesting question over the next year is which model is more durable across a full cycle, and right now, they're both looking pretty good!

If this was useful, forward it to someone. If something looks off, reply and tell me. The inbox is always open.

See you next week.

- Halston Valencia

Head of Operations, BitcoinQuant

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