Retail investors are reportedly the largest cohort in Strategy’s high-yield, low-volatility “Stretch” shares, which have been used to buy more than $1 billion worth of Bitcoin this year. 

Around 80% of the owners of Strategy’s “Stretch” perpetual preferred shares (STRC) are owned by retail, said Strategy CEO Phong Le on Wednesday.

“Retail investors prefer low-volatility, high-yield digital credit,” he added.

The figure suggests that retail investors are still interested in exposure to Bitcoin, even though it is down about 45% from its all-time high. 

Strategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor, has been stepping up sales and marketing of Stretch following the drop in Bitcoin and company stock, pitching the shares as a way to get exposure to BTC without the volatility. 

In March, Strategy used around $1.2 billion from at-the-market sales of STRC to buy Bitcoin, though it switched back to using the sale of common stock in its most recent buy. 

“Normally, the hardest thing in the world to do is to sell a new credit instrument to a retail investor,” Saylor said Thursday at the 2026 Digital Asset Summit in New York. 

Speaking on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Thursday, Saylor said, “the idea is to create an onramp for people who believe Bitcoin is going to be around for the long term, but they can't handle the volatility in the near term.” 

He added that Stretch strips the first 10% to 11% of annual Bitcoin returns and passes it to the credit investor. STRC is “way overcollateralized,” but Strategy is betting that Bitcoin will rise more than 11% per year, and “our equity holders are going to make a fortune,” while credit investors are happy with 11%, he said.

Strategy’s common stock (MSTR) is down 19% this year and almost 71% from its July 2025 all-time high of $456, according to Google Finance. The Stretch shares, meanwhile, pay annual dividends of about 11.5%, higher than US Treasurys, which currently yield about 4%.

The investments are perpetual derivatives, meaning they do not have a maturity date, so Strategy never has to pay investors back like a bond, and they can be held indefinitely, earning dividends. The dividend rate is variable and adjusts monthly with market conditions.

The goal of these adjustments is to keep the trading price anchored near $100, making it behave more like a high-yield savings account than a volatile stock or crypto asset. 

Saylor looks to double down on Stretch

In February, the company said it would rely more on its preferred stock sales to acquire Bitcoin.

It went further this week, revealing plans via a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday to raise up to $21 billion by selling Strategy stock and another $21 billion from Stretch, via new at-the-market programs.