Strategy’s program to repurchase its preferred shares has become a significant source of activity in STRC, raising questions about whether the market can maintain its liquidity when the company’s authorization runs low.
According to CryptoSlate, research from digital-asset market maker Keyrock found that Strategy represented more than 20% of STRC’s weekly trading volume during almost every week of September. The company’s share reached about 28% in the week of Sept. 8 before falling to just under 20% in early October.
The figures matter because STRC is intended to function as a recurring financing instrument for Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation. If a large portion of its trading depends on the issuer itself buying shares, independent investor demand may be less substantial than the headline turnover suggests.
Buybacks have become an important source of STRC activity
STRC is a variable-rate preferred stock issued by Strategy and has averaged approximately $150 million in daily trading volume. Keyrock estimated that the security could typically absorb about $28 million in trades before its price moved by 10 basis points, or 0.1%.
That market depth is considerably greater than the comparable figures for Strive’s SATA and Strategy’s fixed-rate preferred securities, each of which had less than $3 million of depth under the same measure.
For a large investor, the difference can affect how quickly a position can be sold. Keyrock’s illustrative calculations indicated that a $50 million STRC position could be liquidated in less than two trading days if executions were limited to the equivalent of 20% of daily volume. The same transaction could take about five days in SATA and six to eight weeks in Strategy’s fixed-rate preferred instruments.
However, the calculation looks less favorable when Strategy’s own purchases are removed from the volume. On that basis, estimated available trading capacity falls to roughly 80% of the reported total, meaning a $50 million exit could take longer than the headline volume indicates.
Keyrock did not conclude that all of the company’s buying would disappear if repurchases stopped. Other participants could alter their behavior as well. A preferred-income manager cited in the research said arbitrage firms and high-frequency traders may be trading around STRC’s $100 reference price in response to Strategy’s activity. Those traders could reduce their participation if the issuer withdrew, leaving more of the market to longer-term investors and opportunistic buyers.
Liquidity deteriorates when STRC moves away from $100
The security’s liquidity is also closely linked to its distance from the $100 reference price. On the worst 10% of trading days, estimated depth within a 10-basis-point move fell from approximately $28 million to $6.5 million.
Keyrock said STRC was about four times less liquid when trading 1% to 3% away from its reference price and roughly eight times less liquid when the difference exceeded 6%. This relationship creates a challenge for investors holding large positions, particularly if they need to sell during a period when the security is trading at a discount.
The correlation between STRC’s distance from its reference price and illiquidity was 0.43, compared with 0.10 for the size of Bitcoin’s daily price moves. In the research, this indicated that the preferred share’s tradability was more closely associated with its deviation from $100 than with Bitcoin’s immediate direction.
A typical decline from the reference price was equivalent to approximately seven months of dividend income, while STRC’s fall toward the mid-$70s in June represented roughly two years of coupon payments. Those comparisons show how a price discount can outweigh expected income relatively quickly.
The research does not prove that Strategy’s repurchases caused the relationship between price and liquidity. Keyrock observed a similar pattern before the buyback program began, and STRC remains substantially more liquid than the competing preferred securities examined in the report.
Remaining authorization puts Strategy’s support under scrutiny
Strategy had spent about $1.45 billion of a $2 billion preferred-share repurchase authorization as of Oct. 4, leaving $547.2 million available. The program helped STRC recover from the mid-$70s in June to approximately $99.50, close to its $100 reference price.
Repurchases are discretionary, however, and Strategy can change, suspend or end them. Between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4, the company bought approximately $176.3 million of STRC, including $102.6 million during the last three days of September and $73.7 million in early October.
During the same period, Strategy acquired 334 Bitcoin for approximately $28.7 million. Of the preferred-share repurchases, $154.1 million came from cash reserves, compared with $13 million used for Bitcoin purchases. If the company continued buying at its recent weekly pace, the remaining authorization would last approximately three weeks, although this is only an illustrative estimate. Strategy doubled the authorization in September and could change it again.
Shareholders are scheduled to vote on Oct. 28 on amendments that would introduce daily dividends across Strategy’s US-listed preferred stocks. If approved and implemented, STRC would begin payments under the new schedule on Nov. 2. Strategy has said more frequent distributions could support price stability, reduce disruptions around dividend dates and broaden institutional interest without increasing total regular dividend obligations.
The experience of Strive’s SATA, which already uses a near-continuous payment structure, suggests that dividend frequency alone may not guarantee deeper liquidity. Keyrock identified family offices, private-bank discretionary accounts and specialist credit funds as potential sources of larger allocations. These investors may be able to commit tens of millions of dollars despite restrictions that prevent some pension and insurance funds from buying unrated perpetual preferred securities with deferrable dividends.
The next repurchase disclosures and the Oct. 28 vote should provide evidence of whether independent demand is developing. A lower Strategy share of STRC trading alongside stable depth and prices near $100 would indicate that other investors are absorbing more activity. If issuer participation remains high as the authorization shrinks, Strategy will have to decide whether to extend support, accept a potentially wider discount or direct capital toward dividends, debt obligations and Bitcoin accumulation.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 11:14 a.m. on Oct. 9, 2026, showed Bitcoin at $82426.693639871, up 0.03% over 24 hours but down 4.64% over seven days. Gram (prev. Toncoin) was $1.4530771561 at 11:13 a.m., up 2.57% in 24 hours and down 6.28% over seven days.
Celestia stood at $0.474720899 at 11:13 a.m., down 1.9% over 24 hours and up 0.33% over seven days. Compound was $23.8266131004 at 11:14 a.m., down 0.41% over 24 hours and 2.9% over seven days.
