Peter Schiff says MicroStrategy’s preferred stock funding for Bitcoin purchases has stalled

Peter Schiff argues MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin-buying engine has stalled even as its Stretch preferred stock claws back toward par value, a split verdict that pits the Bitcoin critic against public data showing continued purchases funded through other channels. The disagreement matters because Strategy remains the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, and how it finances future buys shapes both its balance sheet and the broader market’s read on institutional demand.

• STRC preferred stock has recovered to roughly $99.4, near its $100 par value, after sinking to about $75 earlier in 2026
• Strategy has not sold additional STRC shares since raising about $1.95 billion between May 11 and 17
• The company funded recent purchases of 4,603 BTC and 1,665 BTC using common stock sales rather than preferred issuance

• $99.4 STRC share price versus its roughly $75 low earlier in 2026
• 9% STRC’s 30-day volatility, below the 10% reading Saylor cited for SPY
• $1.95B raised in Strategy’s last STRC sale, May 11 to 17
• $17.51B unused STRC issuance capacity held unchanged since that sale

Peter Schiff, a longtime Bitcoin critic, told listeners on his October 2 podcast that MicroStrategy has pulled its Stretch preferred stock, ticker STRC, back toward its $100 par value. He argued the recovery masks a deeper problem: the company has lost the issuance channel that previously funded its Bitcoin purchases. According to reporting by BeInCrypto, Strategy has nonetheless kept adding Bitcoin, financing its latest buys with proceeds from common stock sales instead.

STRC climbs to $99.4 from a $75 low, but Schiff says the funding route is closed

Schiff said STRC now trades near $99.4, a recovery he admitted surprised him given the stock’s troubled run earlier in the year. The preferred shares had fallen to about $75 at one point in 2026, a drop CEO Phong Le attributed to unexpected leverage. Schiff credited the rebound to Strategy’s weekly STRC buybacks and a broader Bitcoin rally, which he said may have restored some investor confidence or triggered short covering.

Even with the price recovery, Schiff argued Strategy cannot reopen its key funding route.

There’s no way that he’s going to be able to start selling more Stretch; that means he’s not going to be able to raise money to really start buying more Bitcoin.

Peter Schiff, podcast host

Schiff added that Strategy has raised enough cash to keep paying STRC dividends for a while longer. He said the company nonetheless lacks the mechanism to add meaningfully more Bitcoin.

Common stock, not preferred shares, has funded Bitcoin buys since May

Strategy’s weekly filings back up part of Schiff’s case. The company last sold STRC through its at-the-market program between May 11 and 17, raising about $1.95 billion, and its remaining STRC capacity has stayed flat at roughly $17.51 billion in every filing since, meaning no further preferred shares have been sold.

Strategy then paused outright Bitcoin buying for 10 weeks over the summer, selling coins instead to cover dividends and STRC buybacks. When purchases resumed in late August, the company turned to other funding sources: it sold class A common stock, ticker MSTR, to fund 4,603 BTC that week and 1,665 BTC in late September, and it drew $75.7 million from its USD Cash account to buy 950 BTC in between.

Common stock proceeds have also flowed back into the preferred stock itself. Between September 21 and 27, Strategy used $103.5 million from MSTR sales to repurchase STRC shares, while holding a separate $5.02 billion USD Reserve as of September 27 that the company says is meant to support preferred dividends and debt interest.

Saylor points to 9% volatility, below the S&P 500’s 10%

Michael Saylor, Strategy’s executive chairman, offered a different reading of STRC’s stabilization. He said the stock’s 30-day historical volatility stood at 9% as of October 2, below the 10% figure he cited for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, ticker SPY, over the same window. Saylor framed the comparison as evidence that the structure is working as designed in a post on X on Saturday (October 3).

Schiff was not quoted responding to Saylor’s volatility comparison, and the reporting does not indicate he has addressed it directly. Schiff separately said he expects Bitcoin to decline once tech stocks pull back, a view that remains his own forecast rather than a settled outcome.

The BlockWest read. The real signal is not STRC’s price but Strategy’s funding mix: common stock sales, not preferred issuance, are now carrying the Bitcoin-buying load. That shifts dilution risk onto MSTR shareholders rather than preferred investors, and it means Strategy’s purchase pace now tracks its equity price as much as Bitcoin demand. Allocators watching Strategy as a Bitcoin proxy should weigh that shift, not just the headline coin count.

Strategy typically discloses its Bitcoin purchases in Monday filings, so its next weekly report will show whether common stock sales continue to fund buys or whether the company finds a way back into the preferred market Schiff says is closed.

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