Strategy’s STRC preferred stock has become the largest holding in three major U.S. preferred stock ETFs, which together hold $756 million of the security, even as STRC continues to trade about 13% below its $100 par value.

Michael Saylor, Strategy’s co-founder and executive chairman, said STRC now leads the portfolios of BlackRock’s iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (PFF), Virtus InfraCap’s U.S. Preferred Stock ETF (PFFA), and VanEck’s Preferred Securities ex Financials ETF (PFXF). In a July 24 X post, Saylor described the positions as evidence that Strategy’s “digital credit” products are moving into institutional portfolios.

Digital Credit is entering the institutional mainstream. $STRC is now the largest holding in three leading U.S. preferred stock ETFs, with $756 million held across BlackRock’s $PFF , Virtus InfraCap’s $PFFA , and VanEck’s $PFXF . pic.twitter.com/IoYwl2D360 — Michael Saylor (@saylor) July 24, 2026

The three ETFs provide investors with indirect exposure to STRC alongside preferred securities issued by established U.S. companies. Preferred stock ETFs are generally built around income-oriented securities that rank ahead of common equity but behind debt in an issuer’s capital structure, making STRC’s position in those funds notable because it places a Bitcoin-linked corporate financing instrument beside more traditional preferred shares. According to Saylor’s figures, their combined STRC holdings have reached $756 million, making the security the largest individual position in each fund.

Despite the rise in ETF ownership, STRC closed at $86.89 on July 24, up 2.29% for the session, before moving to $87.14 in after-hours trading, according to market data shown by Yahoo Finance. The closing price left STRC 13.11% below the $100 level Strategy designed it to track.

That discount has become significant for Strategy because the company uses STRC sales to raise capital for Bitcoin purchases. Strategy can issue additional preferred shares near or above $100 and direct the proceeds into Bitcoin, but issuing new stock at a large discount would raise less capital per share and reduce the economics of the transaction.

Institutional holdings have increased

Strategy CEO Phong Le said the average STRC position held by institutions rose 105% to $3.5 million between March and July. During the same period, retail investors’ share of ownership declined from 78% to 71%, according to figures Le published on X.

“The institutions are coming,” Le wrote.

Yes, but that means retail investors sold for a loss. My guess is the institutional buyers bought in for a short-term trade only. Or maybe they shorted MSTR and bought STRC as a spread trade. Maybe they bought STRC and shorted Bitcoin. None of those trades are bullish bets. — Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 24, 2026

Le’s figures corrected reports that described the increase in average institutional holdings as 10%. His post put the increase at 105%, meaning the average institutional position more than doubled over the four-month period.

Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff responded that institutional participation does not necessarily mean every buyer expects STRC or Bitcoin to rise. Schiff argued that retail investors may have sold their positions at a loss while professional investors entered trades intended to profit from pricing differences among Strategy-linked assets.

Schiff said some funds may have bought STRC while shorting Strategy’s common stock, MSTR, as a spread trade. He also said other buyers may have paired long STRC positions with short Bitcoin exposure.

“None of those trades are bullish bets,” Schiff wrote in his response.

Strategy currently pays STRC holders a 12% annual cash dividend through two payments each month. The company’s STRC information page says management adjusts the dividend rate monthly to encourage the stock to trade around its $100 par value and to reduce price volatility.

The payout has not yet eliminated the discount. For preferred securities, the gap between market price and stated par value matters because distributions are set by the issuer while secondary-market prices determine where the security actually trades. STRC’s 52-week range spans $71.25 to $100.42, and its July 24 close remained closer to the lower end of that range than to par.

The $100 level is tied to Strategy’s Bitcoin funding plans

Le has linked additional STRC issuance and Bitcoin purchases to a recovery in the preferred stock. In a July interview, the Strategy CEO said the company would resume issuing more STRC after it returned to par.

“We’ll continue to build that. And yeah, when Stretch gets back to par, we’ll issue more. We’ll buy more Bitcoin,” Le said.

Under that funding approach, a move back to $100 would allow Strategy to sell new STRC shares on more favorable terms and use the proceeds to acquire more Bitcoin. Until the discount closes, Le’s comments indicate that the company has less incentive to expand the program.

Strategy has already shown how pressure on its preferred securities can affect its Bitcoin treasury. A July 6 filing showed that the company sold 3,588 BTC for $216 million to fund dividends on its digital-credit securities and maintain liquidity. After the sale, Saylor said Strategy held 843,775 BTC and had increased its U.S. dollar reserves to $2.55 billion.

Also on July 6, Binance Stocks added STRC for spot trading, according to an exchange announcement reported by crypto.news. The listing followed the introduction of STRC-linked perpetual futures and gave Binance users another venue to trade the preferred security.

Binance said fully paid securities lending would become available after stock transactions had fully settled. Although the listing added another distribution channel for STRC, the stock’s continued discount means ETF accumulation and additional trading access have not yet restored the $100 level associated with Strategy’s preferred-share-funded Bitcoin purchases.