In this article4 sections
Strategy and Strive together account for six U.S.-listed digital credit instruments, and a framework published November 13, 2026 by Bitcoin Magazine ranks those instruments against one another. The author is Allard Peng, a research and insights analyst at Bitcoin for Corporations.
The six are Strategy’s STRK, STRF, STRD, STRC and STRE, plus Strive’s SATA and SATS. They are perpetual preferred equity securities giving holders credit-like exposure to corporate balance sheets dominated by Bitcoin. Because they never mature, investors depend on recurring dividends and the issuer’s continued financial strength rather than repayment of principal on a set date.
Also read: Strategy's STRC Preferred Tops $100 for First Time Since May
Key facts
- The ranking covers four characteristics: creditworthiness, investor protections, liquidity and dividend profile.
- STRF ranks first on creditworthiness, which the report attributes to it being Strategy’s most senior preferred; SATS ranks last because it sits below SATA in Strive’s capital structure.
- SATA ranks first and STRF second on investor protections, both because unpaid dividends compound at escalating penalty rates and holders can elect directors after prolonged deferrals.
- Liquidity rankings use average daily trading volumes from November 2 to 11, 2026, with turnover calculated from the latest reported shares outstanding.
- After January 1, 2027, all six instruments will pay dividends daily, so payment frequency was excluded from the ranking.
Four measures of a perpetual security
Creditworthiness, in Peng’s framing, comes down to how much Bitcoin backs each dollar of credit obligation. He uses a measure called the BTC Rating, which compares the dollar value of Bitcoin reserves with outstanding credit while accounting for seniority. A 5x rating means five dollars of Bitcoin support every dollar of notional credit claims, and senior and junior instruments from the same issuer do not carry equal coverage. Cash reserves can improve the picture by reducing net obligations.
Investor protections deal with what happens when a payment is missed. The report separates cumulative from noncumulative dividends, then looks at how arrears are treated: some instruments preserve unpaid amounts with no added compensation, others compound arrears at the regular rate, and the strongest impose penalty rates that rise as deferrals continue. STRC and STRK compound at the regular rate, with STRC ranked ahead because its current compounding rate is higher. STRD ranks last because its dividends are noncumulative, meaning skipped payments are permanently forgone, and holders have no right to elect directors.
Liquidity is split into absolute volume, which supports large transactions, and turnover, which shows how actively a security trades relative to its size. The report cites the example of an instrument with $50 million in daily volume against a $1 billion market capitalization turning over 5% a day, versus one trading $100 million daily on a $10 billion capitalization at 1% turnover. The six tickers are described as among the most actively traded preferred equities in U.S. markets.
On dividends, the report separates fixed from variable rate policy and, most importantly, raw yield. STRC and SATA are the two variable-rate instruments; the other four are fixed. SATS ranks first on yield in Peng’s table, STRF and STRC are tied at fifth, and STRK is last.
Why it matters
The comparison gives investors a common vocabulary for a small and new asset class, where the choice between instruments turns on tradeoffs rather than a single best pick. Peng notes that an investor prioritising creditworthiness might prefer STRF, while one prioritising dividend certainty and yield might prefer SATS. It also shows how seniority within a single issuer’s capital structure can change the risk profile of otherwise similar securities.
What to watch
The January 1, 2027 shift to daily dividends across all six instruments will remove payment frequency as a differentiator, leaving rate certainty and yield as the dividend variables that separate them. The author’s methodology is his own, and the report states that none of it should be taken as investment advice.
Reported by Bitcoin Magazine.