MicroStrategy Preferred Stock Outperforms Bitcoin in 1-Year Comparison

The other three instruments lagged STRC. STRD fell 8%, STRF lost 9%, and STRK dropped 27%. Still, every one of them beat Bitcoin by a wide margin. Cash dividends and distributions cushioned part of each decline.

STRK explains that spread. Each share converts into 0.1 shares of MSTR, so it tracks the common stock more closely than the others do. None of the four carry a claim on Strategy’s Bitcoin.

Critics question how long the company can carry that payout load. Arca Chief Investment Officer Jeff Dorman warned in May that a $15 billion preferred stack strains the Bitcoin flywheel.

The Number Missing From Saylor’s Chart

The graphic leaves out MSTR, Strategy’s common stock. That omission matters. MSTR closed at $93.04 on August 14, roughly 75% below its level a year earlier, according to Yahoo Finance data.

The stock touched $367.57 at its 52-week high. Today it changes hands near the floor of that range. Common shareholders absorbed the leverage, while preferred holders collected the income.

In contrast, Bitcoin’s current price sat near $63,072 on Sunday, still deep inside a bear market that began last autumn.

Strategy has also flipped into a net seller. The company added 37 Bitcoin across two months, then sold 1,638 coins in a single week. Meanwhile, its treasury now sits at a lower level than it did in May.

Saylor addressed the credit risk head-on last week. His new model publishes floor prices for creditors, naming the Bitcoin levels where each security breaks.

The engineering worked as advertised for over 12 months. It turned one volatile asset into four calmer income streams. Whether those streams hold through a second year of falling Bitcoin prices is the question facing holders now.