Strategy’s Bitcoin credit calculator produced an illustrative value of $210.90 for its STRC perpetual preferred stock on Oct. 2, even though the dashboard used a market-price input of $99.50. The gap highlights how the model’s assumptions differ from the contractual rights, payment risks and trading conditions attached to the security.
According to CryptoSlate, Strategy’s formula keeps the current dividend unchanged while replacing the market’s credit spread with a Bitcoin-linked modeled spread. The company itself says the resulting figure is not a fair-value estimate or a price target. It also warns that the call feature on STRC can cause the calculated price to diverge materially from a price investors could actually realize.
How the $210.90 figure was calculated
At about 08:18 UTC on Oct. 2, the dashboard used a Bitcoin price of $86,593, an assumed annual return of 10% and volatility of 40%. The STRC row showed a 12.06% effective yield, a 5.23% risk-free yield and 46 basis points of BTC Credit, Strategy’s modeled credit spread.
The published formula divides the annual dividend by the sum of the risk-free yield and BTC Credit. Using the displayed inputs produces the following calculation:
$12 ÷ (5.23% + 0.46%) ≈ $210.90.
The market spread shown for the row was 684 basis points. That figure represents the additional yield above the risk-free rate implied by the displayed market price. By substituting the much smaller 46-basis-point modeled spread, the formula uses a lower discount rate and produces a much higher result.
The mechanism is straightforward: a larger dividend increases the numerator, while a smaller modeled spread reduces the denominator. The output can therefore rise sharply while the rights attached to the share remain unchanged. The calculator does not establish that STRC is worth more than twice its market input, nor does it indicate that a holder can receive the calculated amount on demand.
Strategy’s assumptions include full scheduled payments and a simplified treatment of Bitcoin coverage and claims. The displayed market price may also be stale and is not necessarily an executable quote. Bitcoin-linked inputs can change after the snapshot was taken.
STRC’s redemption terms and changing dividend
Strategy may optionally redeem STRC at $101 per share, or at a higher amount it announces, together with applicable accumulated unpaid dividends and related adjustments. A partial redemption must leave at least $250 million of stated amount outstanding and uncalled when notice is given. The redemption date must fall between three business days and 60 calendar days after notice.
These provisions describe an issuer option, not a normal holder right to demand cash. Strategy can choose not to redeem the shares, and the $101 amount is not an automatic ceiling for the secondary-market price. If the company does exercise the option, the holder receives the contractual redemption payment instead of continuing to own the dividend-paying security.
STRC’s dividend rate is also not permanently fixed. Ordinary monthly rate reductions are subject to a 25-basis-point allowance, specified changes in one-month term SOFR, a SOFR floor and conditions concerning accumulated dividends. The restrictions limit the company’s discretion but do not guarantee that the current rate will continue indefinitely.
Dividends accumulate cumulatively, although cash payment requires board declaration and legally available funds. The amended certificate effective June 30, 2026, changed the payment schedule from the monthly arrangement described in the July 2025 offering announcement to twice-monthly payments, while monthly reference periods for rate resets remained in place.
Strategy’s Oct. 1 filing said its Sept. 30 action maintained the 12% annual rate for periods beginning Oct. 16 and declared a $0.50 payment for the semi-monthly period ending Oct. 31. A proposal for daily dividends is scheduled for an Oct. 28 shareholder vote. If approved and implemented on time, the first planned daily record date would be Nov. 1, with the first payment on Nov. 2. More frequent payments would not create a daily redemption right, guarantee the dividend rate or ensure principal stability.
Bitcoin coverage is not the same as dollar payment capacity
The company’s Bitcoin holdings and its resources for making dollar payments address different risks. Bitcoin coverage measures assets against claims under the model’s assumptions, while dividends require dollars when payments become due.
In a Sept. 28 reserve update, Strategy reported a $5.02 billion USD Reserve and a separate $1.00 billion USD Cash balance as of Sept. 27. The reserve supports preferred dividends and debt interest, while USD Cash serves broader treasury and capital-allocation purposes. During Sept. 21–27, Strategy used $22.1 million from the reserve for preferred dividends and $48.1 million of USD Cash to help fund STRC repurchases.
Those balances and uses are dated disclosures, not guarantees of future payment coverage. The broader cash balance should not automatically be treated as interchangeable with the designated reserve. Claim priority is another consideration: debt and STRF rank above STRC, while STRK, STRE and STRD are junior preferred claims. Bitcoin is not pledged directly to STRC holders, and senior claims or other liabilities may affect assets available to them.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data at 09:39 on Oct. 3, 2026, showed RedStone (RED) at $0.1682997367, down 3% over 24 hours and 0.66% over seven days. Ontology (ONT) was $0.0605448132, up 0.81% in 24 hours and 1.18% over seven days. UNIPOLY (UNP) stood at $0.1919580721, gaining 0.88% over 24 hours and 3.68% over seven days.
The three STRC-related figures describe different things: $99.50 is the dashboard’s market input, $210.90 is an assumption-driven model output, and $101 plus applicable dividends is a potential issuer-selected redemption payment. The calculator’s spread substitution does not resolve how dividend changes, the call option, payment capacity or trading conditions affect the security’s realizable value.
