Context and Chronology

Anchorage Digital announced it holds STRC, the perpetual preferred security linked to Strategy’s bitcoin accumulation, with the firm declining to quantify the stake. Nathan McCauley publicized the disclosure and framed the position as strategic alignment, not merely a passive trade; the announcement follows a period of balance‑sheet activity for Anchorage and an active market for issuance‑linked crypto securities. Because Anchorage did not specify size, market participants are now pricing directional demand into STRC rather than definitive flows, which amplifies short‑term liquidity and volatility risks.

Instrument, Yield and Issuance Mechanics

STRC is a Nasdaq‑listed perpetual preferred designed for short‑duration income profiles and (per current public reporting) pays an annual cash yield of 11.25% settled monthly; that yield profile attracts income‑seeking institutional allocators. Market commentary and recent filings indicate Strategy has at times adjusted preferred‑dividend mechanics to shore up demand and reopen ATM issuance channels after periods of weak trading, a dynamic that constrains how much new preferred stock the company can issue at any given time. Those funding frictions help explain why issuance proceeds—used in part to acquire bitcoin—can ebb and flow with secondary‑market appetite and the share‑and‑preferred pricing environment.

Scale, Reporting Variance and Treasury Dynamics

Strategy’s reported bitcoin reserve is large but reported figures vary across disclosures and market reports: Anchorage‑linked commentary references roughly 717,722 BTC, company metrics have listed about 717,131 BTC (with an average cost cited near $76,027), while other market tallies place the inventory closer to ~712,000 BTC. Those divergences appear to stem from reporting timestamps, inclusion or exclusion of very recent OTC or custodial settlements, and differing price snapshots used for mark‑to‑market calculations. Separately, Strategy has signalled a pattern of repeat, visible purchases—executing weekly buys and approaching a symbolic 100th purchase—which makes the company a predictable marginal buyer in tight OTC and exchange liquidity windows.

Strategic and Market Consequences

A regulated custodian taking a proprietary position in an issuance linked to a major bitcoin treasury narrows the separation between custody and capital provision: it can reduce perceived execution friction for buyers of STRC but also concentrates exposures across fewer integrated providers. In the near term, Anchorage’s disclosure injects directional demand into STRC secondary markets and may tighten yields if other institutional allocators follow; in the medium term, actual price and liquidity adjustments will depend on the eventual disclosure of position size, Strategy’s issuance cadence, and any further dividend or ATM program changes. Regulators and counterparties are likely to scrutinize interlinked exposures if such pairings scale, especially given the opacity around undisclosed position sizes and the refinancing risks inherent to perpetual securities.