July 10, 2026 — According to Gate market data, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $63,985.3, up 2.48% over the past 24 hours, with a 0.72% gain over the past week and a 2.46% increase in the last 30 days. However, stretching the timeline to a full year, BTC remains down 45.66% compared to the same period last year. This set of figures highlights the central dilemma facing the market: a short-term rebound coexists with ongoing long-term pressure.
After a sharp correction in June that saw prices dip below $60,000, Bitcoin rebounded from a low of around $57,800 to nearly $64,000. Yet, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode noted in its latest weekly report that Bitcoin has traded below two key averages for about five months—the Realized Price at $76,600 and the Short-Term Holder Cost Basis at $72,200. This means Bitcoin is currently trading at a roughly 16.5% discount to its Realized Price and about 11.4% below the short-term holder cost basis.
Against this macro backdrop, a new financial instrument is undergoing an unprecedented stress test: preferred shares issued by Bitcoin treasury companies.
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy)’s floating-rate Series A perpetual preferred stock (STRC) and Strive’s variable-rate Series A perpetual preferred stock (SATA) both fell below their $100 par value in June 2026. On June 26, STRC hit an intraday low of $73.62, closing at $75.69—a drop of over 24% from par. SATA’s decline was less severe, reaching a low of $92.88 in June. As of early July, STRC stabilized around $85, while SATA rebounded to about $97.9.
This isn’t just a simple price fluctuation. It points to a deeper question: when companies issue financial instruments to buy Bitcoin, can the "Bitcoin treasury company" model continue to deliver value over the long term?
The STRC and SATA Discount: Three Overlapping Factors
Understanding the price performance of STRC and SATA requires examining three dimensions.
Bitcoin price volatility is directly transmitted.
The value proposition of STRC and SATA is built on the issuing company’s Bitcoin reserves. When Bitcoin dropped from above $80,000 to below $60,000 between mid-May and late June 2026, investor confidence in these instruments took a direct hit. Strategy’s common stock (MSTR) fell below $100 intraday on June 25, touching a low of $92.5—the first time since March 2024 it had breached that level. The simultaneous decline in both preferred and common shares shows that market concerns now go beyond Bitcoin’s own volatility and focus squarely on whether the company can sustain its preferred-share-funded business model over the long term.
Dividend coverage is tightening.
STRC’s dividends are hard cash obligations—they can’t be paid out simply by referencing the company’s Bitcoin holdings. Strategy’s annual preferred dividend commitment has soared from about $300 million at the start of 2026 to around $1.2 billion. Some estimates put the annual obligation closer to $1.7 billion.
More crucial is the change in cash reserves. In Q2 2026, Strategy repurchased $1.5 billion in convertible bonds, reducing its cash balance from about $2.25 billion to $871 million. Although the company boosted its dollar reserves to around $2.55 billion in early July, the volatility in dividend coverage has sparked market doubts about sustainability.
Leverage-driven chain reactions.
Roughly 80% of STRC is held by individual investors, many of whom use margin. When the share price fell below $90, forced liquidations accelerated the downward momentum, pushing prices further into the $70 range. This mechanism creates a feedback loop—declining prices trigger margin calls, which force automatic selling, amplifying downward pressure. Investors initially expected the $100 par value to hold, but as prices slipped, margin calls kicked in, reinforcing the sell-off.
Additionally, the dividend ratchet mechanism in the STRC contract adds extra pressure. When STRC trades below $95, the dividend rate increases by 0.5 percentage points each time. JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou notes that each trigger adds about $53 million to the annual obligation. This creates an asymmetry not seen in traditional preferred shares—typically, a drop in price raises the effective yield for new buyers but doesn’t increase the issuer’s costs. With STRC, both effects occur.
More Than a Price Issue: The Deeper Test for the Strategy Model
On July 6, 2026, Strategy made a move that drew widespread market attention: selling 3,588 BTC, worth about $216 million. This was the company’s first major net sale since December 2022.
The sale was executed in two tranches: 1,363 BTC were sold between June 29 and 30 at an average price of about $59,256, raising $80.8 million; another 2,225 BTC were sold between July 1 and 5 at an average of $60,773, raising $135.2 million. The proceeds were mainly used to meet preferred share obligations and replenish dollar reserves.
For a company long known for its "never sell" market narrative, this move was symbolically significant. However, in terms of scale, the sale accounted for only about 0.4% of total holdings. As of July 6, Strategy still held approximately 843,775 BTC and about $2.55 billion in dollar reserves. CEO Phong Le revealed on July 8 that Strategy’s BTC holdings had grown by 10% over the past three months, and year-to-date BTC returns had increased from 3.7% to 7.8%.
This means that in terms of holdings, Strategy hasn’t changed its long-term Bitcoin strategy. But the financing pressure is real.
Strategy’s core financing model relies on issuing new STRC shares at or above par via at-the-market offerings, using the proceeds to buy more Bitcoin. With STRC trading 24% below par, this channel has been temporarily suspended. On June 29, the company announced a "Digital Credit Capital Framework," raising STRC’s annual dividend to 12%, switching to twice-monthly distributions, and authorizing up to $1 billion in share buybacks. However, these measures did not immediately restore the share price to par.
The core dilemma here is that while higher dividends attract new buyers, they also increase the company’s hard cash obligations. Onramp CEO Michael Tanguma put it succinctly: "A capital structure that absorbs volatility only by adding permanent obligations is one with a limited number of cycles."
Discounted Shares: 52% of Investors Go Against the Grain
There’s another side to the market worth noting.
According to BitcoinTreasuries, despite the sharp declines in STRC and SATA in June, more than half (52%) of surveyed investors chose to buy when prices fell below par. Combined trading volume for the two preferred shares surpassed $10 billion in June, setting a monthly record. STRC accounted for $8.7 billion, while SATA reached nearly $1.5 billion—about double the May figure.
Supporters base their logic on several factors.
The long-term institutionalization of Bitcoin remains intact. Despite the price pullback, corporate Bitcoin reserves continue to grow. As of July 2, Japanese-listed Metaplanet held 43,000 BTC, ranking as the world’s third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Hyperscale Data disclosed reserves exceeding 1,000 BTC. The trend of enterprises allocating to Bitcoin is spreading, not shrinking.
Preferred shares offer differentiated BTC exposure. Unlike direct Bitcoin purchases, STRC and SATA don’t fully track BTC price movements, instead providing alternative yield structures. At $85 per STRC share, with an 11.5% coupon on $100 par, new buyers are seeing effective yields of about 13–14%. SATA’s annualized yield is around 13%. For institutional investors seeking yield rather than pure price exposure, these instruments fill a specific allocation need.
A structural correction, not a systemic collapse. Benchmark Equity Research maintains a buy rating on Strategy, viewing the STRC decline as a market-driven reset of required yields, not a structural failure. Asset manager Bitwise similarly notes that STRC selling reflects a maturing crypto market cycle, not evidence of imminent company crisis.
Bitcoin Treasury Companies: The Next Institutional Investment Trend?
The discounts on STRC and SATA aren’t isolated events. They point to a broader industry trend: Bitcoin is evolving from a single tradable asset into the foundational asset of a more complex financial ecosystem.
Historically, investor participation in the Bitcoin market was limited—buying spot BTC directly or using derivatives like futures and options for leverage. Now, the toolkit has expanded dramatically: spot Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin mining company stocks, Bitcoin treasury company shares, and yield-oriented preferred shares backed by Bitcoin reserves.
This financial evolution is a natural path toward market maturity. Each tool has its own unique risk-reward profile and attracts different types of capital. ETFs cater to institutions seeking easy allocation, mining stocks provide indirect exposure to network hash power, and treasury company preferred shares attempt to balance Bitcoin’s volatility with fixed-income demand.
But this evolution comes at a cost. The price discounts on STRC and SATA serve as a crucial reminder: when a financial instrument’s design depends on specific market conditions (such as a continuous Bitcoin rally or persistently low financing costs), changes in those conditions quickly impact pricing. Dividend ratchet mechanisms, procyclical leverage, and fluctuating cash coverage all represent vulnerabilities for these instruments under stress.
From a macro perspective, the sustainability of the Bitcoin treasury company model depends on three long-term variables: whether Bitcoin’s price cycles allow companies to maintain financing during downturns; whether financing costs (especially preferred share dividends) accumulate into unsustainable burdens over multiple cycles; and whether regulatory environments impose additional compliance costs on these innovative structures.
Conclusion
As of July 10, 2026, STRC trades around $85 and SATA around $97.9. The difference in discounts reflects the market’s differentiated pricing of two distinct capital structures, reserve sizes, and management models.
STRC and SATA trading below par isn’t a death knell for the Bitcoin treasury company model. But it does mark the first systemic stress test since the model’s rise to prominence. The outcome will not only affect the funding capabilities of Strategy and Strive, but also provide valuable lessons for future imitators—on capital structure design, dividend policy sustainability, and how to build a truly robust bridge between volatile assets and fixed-income commitments.
For market participants, whether the discount is an opportunity or a trap depends not on the present, but on the direction of Bitcoin prices, company cash flow evolution, and the pace of risk appetite recovery over the coming quarters. The only certainty is that Bitcoin’s financialization continues, and each stress test along the way is shaping the next phase of the market’s structure.
FAQ
Q: Why did STRC and SATA fall below their $100 par value?
Three overlapping factors: Bitcoin fell from above $80,000 to below $60,000, directly hitting investor confidence; Strategy’s cash reserves dropped due to convertible bond buybacks, raising doubts about dividend sustainability; and leveraged positions triggered forced liquidations as prices fell, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of selling pressure.
Q: Does Strategy’s Bitcoin sale signal a change in its long-term strategy?
Not at this point. The sale of 3,588 BTC (about $216 million) represents just 0.4% of total holdings and was mainly used to pay preferred share dividends and replenish dollar reserves. As of July 6, the company still holds about 843,775 BTC, with holdings up 10% over the past three months. This looks more like liquidity management than a strategic shift.
Q: What are the risk and return profiles for investing in STRC or SATA at current prices?
At $85 for STRC, with an 11.5% coupon on $100 par, the effective yield is now about 13–14%. If prices return to par, there’s roughly 17% capital appreciation potential. Risks include: dividends are not guaranteed—Strategy can suspend payouts without triggering default; and the dividend ratchet means persistent prices below $95 permanently increase the company’s obligations.
Q: Is the Bitcoin treasury company model sustainable?
Sustainability depends on three variables: whether Bitcoin price cycles allow companies to maintain financing during downturns; whether financing costs like preferred share dividends accumulate into unsustainable burdens over multiple cycles; and regulatory changes. The current discounts on STRC and SATA indicate the market is reassessing the risk-return structure of this model, but the trend of corporate Bitcoin accumulation continues.
Q: How are institutional investors viewing the current discounts?
According to BitcoinTreasuries, 52% of surveyed investors bought in when prices fell below par. Supporters believe the long-term institutionalization of Bitcoin remains intact, preferred shares offer differentiated BTC exposure, and current discounts provide higher effective yields. Some analysts see the decline as a market-driven yield reset, not a structural failure.
