Father Earns 11.5% on Strategy STRC Preferred Shares

A farmer’s father received an annualized 11.5% yield by holding Strategy’s STRC preferred stock, and a post about the payout on X sparked debate between income-focused investors and bitcoin purists. The son, who posts as Mocha, said his father found new STRC shares in a brokerage account and began receiving monthly cumulative cash dividends declared by Strategy’s board.

The father told his son he had never seen returns like 11 or 12 percent and added, ‘I’ve never been paid this kind of money just for someone else to hold my money.’ The son used a farming metaphor to explain reinvesting dividends to buy more shares and grow future income.

STRC was launched in an initial public offering in July 2025 that raised about $2.47 billion in net proceeds. Strategy later issued another $2 billion notional of STRC and used proceeds from preferred-stock offerings to acquire 24,869 bitcoin. As of May 25, 2026, Strategy reported holding 843,738 BTC, valued at roughly $62 billion. STRC units are sold with a $100 stated amount and the company listed an 11.5% annualized dividend rate as of May 2026. Dividends are cumulative but are paid only when the board declares them.

The company recently completed a $1.5 billion repurchase of convertible debt and has relied heavily on preferred-stock financing. Strategy discloses that STRC is not FDIC insured, is not a bank deposit, is not equivalent to holding bitcoin directly, and that there is no assurance of returns or liquidity.

Critics on X argued that STRC replaces direct bitcoin ownership with exposure to a single corporate issuer. Glenn Cameron, head of Onramp Institutional, wrote that STRC ‘trades bitcoin sovereignty for counterparty risk to a single sub-investment grade company’ and described holders as taking on a centralized, dilutable, freezable corporate IOU. Steve Barbour, founder and CEO of Upstream Data, labeled Strategy ‘a shitcoin’ and said concentrated treasury control undermines distribution and liquidity. Critics also noted that dividend payments depend on Strategy’s continued ability to issue securities and maintain investor confidence; if STRC trades below par, new issuance could become harder.

Other commenters defended STRC as a way to provide bitcoin exposure to large pools of capital and to savers who do not self-custody private keys. One X user, Bit Paine, wrote that STRC opens access for investors who accept a different risk profile. Another user, MarylandHODL, described the security as a potential bridge for people who will not hold private keys.

Traders monitored on-chain activity and market wagers closely. On May 29, trackers recorded a transfer of 411.48 BTC from Strategy to Coinbase Prime and a same-day withdrawal, a round trip equal to about 0.049% of Strategy’s reported holdings. A prediction market event tied to possible Strategy bitcoin sales has drawn $35.66 million in volume and shows probabilities of 15% for a sale by May 31, 73% by June 30 and 90% by Dec. 31, 2026; traders logged just over $8 million of volume on bets for May.

Strategy has a shareholder vote scheduled for June 8 on proposals that include increasing dividend payment frequency. Investors say the vote’s outcome will influence demand for STRC and the security’s ability to trade near its $100 par value.