MicroStrategy's STRC Has Bought 10x More Bitcoin Than U.S. Spot ETFs So Far in 2026

MicroStrategy's STRC perpetual preferred stock has financed bitcoin buying at a pace far beyond the U.S. spot ETF market in 2026. Data cited from bitcointreasuries.net show STRC-linked purchases of about 77,000 BTC year to date, versus roughly 8,000 BTC of net spot Bitcoin ETF buying over the same period. Bitcoin financial services firm River highlighted the discrepancy, saying STRC has accumulated 10 times more BTC than all ETFs combined so far this year. STRC is Strategy's Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock and trades near its $100 par value on Nasdaq. It pays a variable annual dividend currently set at 11.5%, distributed monthly in cash. The structure is designed to fund bitcoin purchases: when STRC trades at or above par, the company can issue additional shares and direct the proceeds into BTC. The approach is positioned as a way to avoid diluting MSTR common stock while converting demand from credit-oriented investors into bitcoin held on the balance sheet. In the week ended April 19, MicroStrategy bought 34,164 BTC for $2.54 billion, lifting total holdings to 815,061 bitcoin. That level exceeds BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which holds about 806,178 BTC. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs are still seeing inflows, but the scale remains modest by comparison. Farside Investors data show $238 million of net inflows on April 20, the fifth straight day of positive flows. Even so, the cumulative net new bitcoin absorbed by ETFs this year remains a small fraction of what STRC has funded. If MicroStrategy keeps issuing STRC at the current pace, bitcointreasuries.net projections indicate the firm could surpass 1 million BTC by late 2026.