Easing volatility anxiety or financial engineering? Analyzing the Strategy Perpetual Preferred Stock Plan and Phong Le's latest remarks

As of February 12, 2026, Gate market data shows Bitcoin (BTC) at $67,362.4, down 1.26% over the past 24 hours, with Ethereum (ETH) at $1,961.37. Amid a monthly correction of 23.78% in the crypto market, the world’s largest publicly traded company Bitcoin holder, Strategy, is attempting to soothe the market with a special financial instrument—perpetual preferred shares.

From “Holding” to “Credit”: Phong Le’s Strategic Shift

On February 11, local time, Strategy CEO Phong Le explicitly stated in an interview with Bloomberg that the company will issue more perpetual preferred shares (product code STRC), aiming to provide investors with a tool that “offers digital capital exposure while avoiding Bitcoin volatility risks.”

This product, called “Stretch,” is not traditional equity. Its dividends reset monthly, with an annualized dividend rate currently at 11.25%, anchored to a face value of $100. Phong Le emphasized that this is a typical “Digital Credit Product,” differentiating itself from ordinary stocks’ unlimited volatility, attempting to bridge the “Bitcoin growth narrative” and “fixed income needs.”

So far, Strategy has raised funds by selling approximately $370 million in common stock and $7 million in perpetual preferred shares. Although the preferred stock financing currently accounts for a small proportion, Phong Le’s statement suggests that by 2026, perpetual preferred shares are very likely to become Strategy’s second-largest financing engine after common stock ATM issuances.

The Burden of 714,644 Bitcoins and STRC’s “Stress Test”

To understand why investors are concerned, one must look directly at Strategy’s balance sheet.

According to the latest disclosures, Strategy currently holds 714,644 Bitcoins, with a total cost basis of about $54.26 billion, averaging a cost of $76,506 per Bitcoin. Based on today’s Gate spot price of $67,362.4, this position has an unrealized loss of approximately $6.2 billion.

Market sentiment is at a delicate balance. Bitcoin has fallen 23.78% over the past 30 days and retreated 28.23% over the past year. Data from Gate Research indicates that current Bitcoin market sentiment is “neutral,” but a large amount of trapped positions is suppressing a rebound.

In this environment, STRC shows a different kind of resilience. Despite Bitcoin dropping 24% last month, the STRC price rebounded close to its $100 anchor, paying an 11% annualized dividend in cash. This partially validates Phong Le’s logic: the demand for “stable cash flow” among preferred stock holders can be separated from the ordinary stock shareholders’ bet on “Bitcoin appreciation.”

Can “Digital Credit” Support a Trillion-Dollar Market Cap?

Phong Le defines Strategy’s new role as “Amplified Bitcoin,” meaning leveraging capital operations to magnify Bitcoin returns. Perpetual preferred shares are a key component of this “amplification system.”

Addressing Maturity Mismatch

Traditional debt has fixed maturities, which can trigger repayment crises during Bitcoin’s cyclical bear markets. Perpetual preferred shares have no fixed maturity date, and while dividend payments are not mandatory, they are cumulative. This allows Strategy to avoid forced Bitcoin sales at low prices to repay debt, supporting Michael Saylor’s claim of “baseless forced selling fears” on a technical level.

Attracting Risk-Averse Digital Capital

Not all crypto investors can withstand quarterly Bitcoin drawdowns of 20%-30%. An 11.25% monthly reset dividend is highly attractive in the current environment where US Treasury yields are around 4.2%. Phong Le openly states that STRC’s target audience is “funds wanting digital asset exposure but afraid of volatility.”

Tax Advantages on Dividends

Under the US federal tax framework, all Strategy preferred stock dividends in 2025 qualify as “tax-exempt return of capital.” The company expects to remain in a state of non-taxable accumulated earnings over the next decade. This tax shield further enhances the effective yield of STRC.

New Market Concerns: When “Perpetual” Meets Volatility

However, perpetual preferred shares are not a panacea. As of February 12, 2026, Ethereum (ETH) has a market share of 10.04%. While market sentiment remains “bullish,” ETH’s price still lags significantly behind its all-time high of $4,946.05. This reflects that the entire crypto capital market is still adapting to a macro environment of “high interest rates normalization.”

For Strategy, the risk lies in whether the 11.25% dividend yield is sufficient to compensate investors for continued Bitcoin downturns. If Bitcoin remains below $70,000 long-term, the marginal cost of maintaining high dividend financing will rise. At that point, the pricing logic of digital credit products will no longer depend on company fundamentals but on Bitcoin’s volatility expectations.

Summary and Outlook

Evolving from a “corporate Bitcoin hoarder” to a “digital credit product architect,” Strategy is forging a path never tread by traditional finance. Phong Le’s plan to issue more perpetual preferred shares aims not only to ease investors’ short-term concerns about stock prices but also to provide a new compliant interface for listed companies to participate in the crypto ecosystem.

Gate market snapshot shows that the predicted average Bitcoin price in 2026 is $69,065, with a potential volatility range from $61,467.85 to $98,762.95. If Bitcoin stabilizes and rebounds in the next two quarters, the STRC model may inspire more listed companies to follow suit; if the market remains sluggish, this “perpetual preferred stock” experiment will serve as a highly instructive stress test in crypto finance history.

For Gate users, tracking Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings or monitoring the dividend performance of STRC offers a unique window into the evolution of “digital capital.” After all, in the crypto world, credit is always a scarcer resource than volatility.