Strategy
NASDAQ: MSTRFor years Michael Saylor's whole pitch was one word: never. In 2026, Strategy sold bitcoin for the first time — and said it might do it again.
Last verified: Jul 3, 2026
Who they are
Strategy — known for most of its corporate life as MicroStrategy, a business intelligence software company — is the pioneer of the “bitcoin treasury company” model and still, by a wide margin, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin on Earth. Under Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, the company began converting its balance sheet into bitcoin in 2020 and never looked back, becoming a template that dozens of other public companies (including several others on this page) have since copied.
Strategy holds more than 840,000 BTC, acquired for roughly $64 billion — a position so large that its own stock behaves less like a software company and more like a leveraged, publicly traded proxy for bitcoin itself.
What they actually do
Accumulate bitcoin using capital markets, relentlessly. Strategy funds its BTC purchases primarily through equity and debt issuance — convertible notes and, increasingly, a family of preferred stock instruments (STRK, STRF, STRC, STRD) each with its own risk and yield profile. It was the largest issuer of US equity in 2025.
Report performance in bitcoin terms, not dollars. Metrics like “BTC Yield” (growth in bitcoin per share) have become the company’s primary scorecard, reflecting Saylor’s view that the real product isn’t the software business anymore — it’s engineering ever more bitcoin exposure per share.
Run STRC, a high-yield preferred stock, as a second core business. STRC (“Stretch”) pays investors a variable dividend, recently raised to 12%, funded by the company’s balance sheet — effectively letting Strategy operate as a kind of bitcoin-backed credit issuer alongside its accumulation strategy.
Sell bitcoin, now — a genuine reversal. In June 2026, Strategy adopted a new “Digital Credit Capital Framework” explicitly authorizing bitcoin sales to fund preferred-stock dividends, debt service, and stock buybacks. This followed a small but symbolically enormous first-ever BTC sale in May, breaking Saylor’s long-standing public pledge to never sell.
How they make money
A shrinking legacy software business, alongside the real economic engine: bitcoin price appreciation on its treasury, funded and re-leveraged through a continuous cycle of equity and preferred-stock issuance.
Where it sits in the value chain
The bigger trend it’s riding
Strategy created the entire “digital asset treasury” category that this section of the site is built around — every other company here, from Metaplanet to BitMine, is running a variation of the model Saylor pioneered. But 2026 has also been the year that model faced its first real stress test: Strategy’s “enterprise mNAV” (a measure including debt and preferred obligations) fell below 1.0 for the first time, meaning the company’s total obligations now exceed the market value of its bitcoin holdings at certain points — a structural warning sign for a strategy built on perpetual accumulation.
What to watch (not what to do)
What to watch (not what to do)
- Whether bitcoin sales become routine. The May 2026 sale was tiny (32 BTC), but the new framework explicitly authorizes larger, ongoing sales. Watch whether this stays a rare liquidity tool or becomes a regular practice.
- Enterprise mNAV. This metric — total obligations versus bitcoin holdings — is the clearest signal of how much cushion Strategy's capital structure actually has. It fell below 1.0 in mid-2026 for the first time.
- Preferred stock dividend sustainability. STRC's dividend rate has already been raised once, to 12%, to keep the instrument attractive. Higher yields mean higher ongoing obligations that ultimately need to be funded somehow.
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This page presents market data and educational analysis only. It does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or a solicitation to buy or sell any asset. Company figures, contracts, and plans are described as of mid-2026 and change frequently — verify current details before relying on them. Past performance does not guarantee future results.