Strategy's STRC breaks below $100 peg, halting new Bitcoin purchases

Strategy's variable-rate preferred share STRC broke below its $100 reference price, dropping to $91 before recovering to $93, in a development an analyst said halted the firm's Bitcoin [BTC] accumulation.

The Strategy Variable Rate Perpetual Stretch Preferred Shares Series A, issued to fund the company's BTC purchases, had been trading at par while serving as the primary funding vehicle for Strategy's Bitcoin buys. According to one analyst, Michael Saylor's $100-per-Bitcoin offering was the largest driver of BTC demand in 2026. The break below $100, the analyst said, marked a turning point: Strategy stopped issuing new shares, effectively pausing additional Bitcoin purchases.

The halt in accumulation coincided with a sharp decline in Bitcoin, which fell to $59,000 for the first time since 2024 before recovering to $62,732 at press time. BTC is down 28% year-to-date and 40% on yearly charts. With new share issuance frozen, demand for Strategy cooled and the broader market weakened. The company also sold 32 BTC, worth approximately $2.5 million, to fund dividend payments, a move that coincided with declines in Strategy's share price.

Saylor has pushed back against criticism that Strategy's footprint leaves Bitcoin overly exposed to a single participant, arguing that Bitcoin's design as an open network makes it accessible to capitalists, minimalists, technologists, and fundamentalists alike, and that the network's robustness is not dependent on any one market player. Lyn Alden, author of Broken Money, echoed that assessment, criticizing market bears who argue that Saylor's roughly 4% stake is enough to compromise the network, stating, "I happen to think it's more robust than that."

With STRC now trading below $100, Strategy's ability to issue new shares and convert proceeds into BTC has been constrained, and market participants are tracking the company's next moves as Bitcoin trades near its 2024 lows.