The first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, Anchorage Digital, has announced its current holdings of Strategy perpetual preferred stock STRC. This news comes as the MSTR stock continues to drop in price.
Anchorage Buys Into Strategy’s STRC Stock
The crypto bank announced its holdings of Strategy perpetual preferred stock on its balance sheet. This was shared today on X by Nathan McCauley, the CEO and co-founder of Anchorage.
“Institutions don’t just talk about Bitcoin, they structure around it. When the company that operationalizes Bitcoin infrastructure puts capital alongside the company that operationalized the Bitcoin treasury strategy, that’s a signal,” he said.
In response to this, the executive chairman of Strategy, Michael Saylor, said that “conviction is contagious.” This is an implication that other companies might soon emulate the steps of Anchorage in acquiring the yield-generating STRC stock.
Past proceeds from the issuances of STRC shares have also been used to fund Strategy’s purchases of Bitcoin. This makes the stock a vehicle through which income-seeking investors can indirectly invest into the Bitcoin treasury strategy. This would also open the firm to earn regular dividend distributions in the process.
It is a senior stock to common shares like MSTR, but gives investors like Anchorage regular dividend income with no expiration date. STRC stock, which started in mid-2025, offers a 11.25% annual dividend to its shareholders. This is paid in monthly installments in cash form, with the rate adjusted each month.
MSTR Becomes Most Shorted U.S Stock
While STRC gains momentum, the Strategy stock is now considered one of the “heaviest shorted” stocks, according to Goldman Sachs data. Bearish short bets in MSTR equaled 14% of the company’s $34 billion market cap last week. This makes it the most shorted stock right now.
Notably, Coinbase stock, a cryptocurrency exchange, was in the fourth spot at 11% of its market cap. The report focused on stocks with a market cap of more than $25 billion.
Apart from firms like Anchorage pivoting to other stocks like STRC, the firm’s $9 billion in unrealized losses could be a factor for its decline. Another rationale for analysts’ high short interest levels is the basis trade.
For context, it is possible for traders to buy spot Bitcoin ETFs, such as IBIT by BlackRock, while shorting the MSTR stock at the same time. The rationale is to gain from a narrowing MSTR premium over its BTC assets.
“I suspect a lot of this short interest is still MSTR / BTC basis trade. Jane Street, in particular, has recently acquired a conspicuously large IBIT position,” specialist in BTC treasury companies, Brian Brookshire said.