6 Minutes
Strategy’s financing structure cements its status as the leading corporate Bitcoin proxy
Strategy (MSTR) has rewired the way public companies fund large Bitcoin treasuries. Throughout 2025 the firm issued a sequence of preferred share classes—STRK, STRF, STRD and STRC—that together have raised roughly $5.6 billion year-to-date and positioned the company as the most visible corporate proxy to bitcoin on U.S. markets.
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Capital raised, market footprint and why it matters
Collectively, Strategy’s preferred offerings account for an outsized share of 2025’s new listings activity: the company reports that these instruments represent about 12% of all U.S. IPO issuance (preferred or common) by dollar value this year. That level of capital formation underscores two trends: robust investor appetite for crypto-linked securities and Strategy’s role as a corporate vehicle for institutional and accredited exposure to bitcoin.
The company’s approach effectively creates a financing loop. Preferred shares attract investors seeking yield or structured exposure, and the capital is deployed to buy BTC, which in turn increases the company’s bitcoin treasury and its profile as a corporate bitcoin holder. As of August 2025 Strategy holds 632,457 BTC — the largest corporate BTC position globally — giving the company both scale and influence in narratives around corporate crypto treasury management.
Preferred share performance: divergent returns, common objective
Performance across the preferred tranches has not been uniform. STRF is the standout with a lifetime return near +31%, followed by STRK at +19% and STRC at +8%. STRD has underperformed, showing a negative return of about -6%. These divergences reflect differences in coupon terms, conversion features, market liquidity, and investor demand. For traders and institutional allocators, the different preferred tickers offer targeted primitives to express bullish, yield-seeking or relative-value views on bitcoin and the company itself.
Because these securities sit alongside convertible debt in Strategy’s capital structure, investors evaluating MSTR need to account for diluted claims, fixed-income-like obligations and optionality embedded in convertibles. The firm’s enterprise value relative to bitcoin NAV is currently reported at 1.60x — calculated by dividing enterprise value (including preferreds and convertible debt) by the company’s BTC holdings. That premium has compressed in recent weeks as the stock retreated roughly 25% from its July high, illustrating how equity volatility and debt obligations interact with bitcoin price moves.
Market context: MSTR shares, bitcoin performance and the broader IPO landscape
Year-to-date in 2025 MSTR shares are up approximately 13%, while BTC itself has gained roughly 18% during the same period. That performance gap highlights how the market prices Strategy’s corporate balance sheet, capital structure and liability schedule in addition to its bitcoin exposure. The company’s equity is effectively leveraged to BTC; when bitcoin rallies, gains flow into the enterprise, but when the equity base weakens the enterprise value multiple and convertible/preferred holders will affect returns.
Meanwhile, Strategy’s preferred issuance is part of a broader revival in crypto-linked public offerings. Other high-profile debuts this year — including Bullish (BLSH) and Circle (CRCL) — account for the remaining roughly $42 billion of U.S. IPO issuance tied to digital-asset businesses, signaling renewed risk-on sentiment among public market investors and a willingness to underwrite innovative capital structures.
What investors should watch
- Treasury concentration: Strategy’s 632,457 BTC position creates operational and market risk. Large corporate treasuries add legitimacy to institutional bitcoin adoption but also concentrate exposure to on-chain and regulatory developments.
- Capital structure complexity: Preferred shares and convertible debt influence dilution, cash flow priorities and governance. Investors should model how coupon payments and conversion triggers behave across price scenarios.
- NAV and valuation sensitivity: The 1.60x enterprise-value-to-bitcoin-NAV multiple can move quickly with shifts in BTC price and equity sentiment. This leverage effect creates trading opportunities and downside risks.
- Secondary-market liquidity: Divergent returns among STRF, STRK, STRC and STRD reflect differences in liquidity and investor base. Active traders will price in both yield and exit risk.
Implications for the crypto industry and corporate treasuries
Strategy’s preferred-share strategy highlights a developing capital markets playbook for companies that want to build meaningful bitcoin treasuries without issuing common equity. By packaging exposure into preferred tranches, issuers can attract differentiated investor cohorts—yield-focused buyers, strategic allocators, and those seeking quasi-equity exposure to BTC. This approach also broadens the toolkit for corporate treasury management in the digital-asset era.
For crypto markets, these financing mechanisms are a signal of maturation: specialized instruments, convertible overlays and a growing secondary market for crypto-linked securities. But they also create cross-asset linkages—credit market dynamics now feed into bitcoin treasury valuations and vice versa—so risk management and disclosure become more important than ever.
Disclaimer
The analyst who contributed to this report holds shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR). Readers should perform their own due diligence and consider their risk tolerance before investing in crypto-linked equities or preferred securities.
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