Strategy's Digital Credit: The New Frontier of Corporate Bitcoin
Strategy Inc. (formerly MicroStrategy) isn't content with being the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder. In 2025, the company, led by Michael Saylor, made a radical strategic shift: becoming the world's leading issuer of Digital Credit.
What is Digital Credit?
Digital Credit is the term Saylor uses to describe Bitcoin-backed financial instruments that generate returns for investors. In practice, it's a series of perpetual preferred shares that Strategy has launched under names prefixed with "Str-": Strike (STRK), Strife (STRF), Stretch (STRC), and Stride (STRD).
An Unprecedented Capital Machine
In 2025, Strategy executed five initial public offerings of these perpetual interest securities, raising gross proceeds of $5.5 billion. Since then, the company has raised an additional $1.9 billion through open market (ATM) programs, paying out $413 million in cumulative distributions to date with a combined annual dividend yield of 9.6%.
The model also has a significant tax advantage: distributions are treated as a return of capital (ROC), making them tax-deferred and potentially offering up to 44% higher after-tax returns over ten years compared to traditional fixed-income instruments.
The Shift from Convertible Debt
This move represents a fundamental change from the previous convertible-debt-based model. By the end of 2025, the total value of the perpetual-income instruments reached $8.36 billion, surpassing the $8.2 billion of convertible debt for the first time. The absence of principal repayment obligations ensures that the company's BTC positions remain intact, allowing it to fully benefit from the asset's appreciation.
A Rival to Traditional Private Lending?
Analysts like Adam Livingston argue that Bitcoin and digital lending could transform the private lending market. As an example, they point out that STRC trades near its face value of $100 and has delivered total returns of between 10% and 13%, even during periods with 50% drops in the price of Bitcoin.
The Long-Term Vision
Strategy's management aims to double Bitcoin per share over the next seven years, with a target annual Bitcoin return of 5% to 14% through its digital lending strategy. In Saylor's own words, the goal is clear: for Strategy to be "the Bitcoin central bank for the world's corporations."
Strategy's Digital Lending is not just a financial innovation; it's a bet that Bitcoin can reshape the foundations of global corporate lending.
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