Strategy’s preferred shares are trading well below their $100 par value, and the company just spent $1.38 billion in cash to buy back its own debt instead of buying more Bitcoin. For a firm whose entire identity revolves around accumulating as much Bitcoin as humanly possible, that’s a notable pivot.
The STRC preferred shares have slid to roughly 14% below par, pushing yields up to around 11.5%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin short interest has jumped 9%, adding external pressure to a company that has effectively turned itself into a leveraged Bitcoin proxy.
The debt buyback that raised eyebrows
In May 2026, Strategy repurchased $1.5 billion in face value of its 0% convertible senior notes due in 2029. The price tag: approximately $1.38 billion in cash, a discount that looks smart on paper but raises uncomfortable questions about what the company is prioritizing.
Strategy didn’t use that $1.38 billion to buy more Bitcoin. It used it to reduce its debt load. The company currently holds between 843,738 and 846,842 BTC, acquired at an average cost of roughly $76,000 per coin. That puts the total acquisition cost basis at approximately $63.88 billion, making Strategy the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin on the planet by a wide margin.
