The most-quoted number about Strategy's STRC preferred stock — a yield north of 14% — is, according to a veteran distressed-credit investor, simply the wrong way to think about it. Khing Oei, who spent 25 years valuing risky debt at Goldman Sachs and hedge funds, argues the market has STRC priced wrong: his model puts fair value near $96 against a market price around $85, a roughly 13% gap.
Why the 14% Yield Misleads
The headline math is simple enough: STRC pays a 12% dividend, and dividing that by a discounted price produces a yield above 14%. Oei's objection is that the calculation quietly assumes the payments continue forever regardless of circumstances — and STRC makes no such promise. The security never matures, never has to repay its $100 face value, and pays only for as long as Strategy can afford it. When the shares crashed 25% below par during June's Bitcoin selloff, that collapse is precisely what made the yield look so attractive. As Oei put it in his analysis, the experience teaches one instinct: “never value a stream by dividing this year's coupon by today's price.”
Valuing It Like a Bond Instead
So Oei counts the cash STRC will actually pay, and nothing more. Working from Strategy's own dashboard — 843,775 BTC worth $54 billion plus $3 billion in cash — he subtracts the $8 billion claimed first by debt and senior preferred shares, leaving $50.2 billion behind the preferred stack against STRC's $10.5 billion. The annual dividend bill runs $1.73 billion.
Two numbers fall out of that. Bitcoin needs to grow just 3.4% a year for the dividends never to stop. And even if Bitcoin stays flat forever, the money lasts 29 years. Discount those 29 years of payments at 12% and STRC is worth $96.30 — a figure BeInCrypto independently checked and found sound. The market's $85.29, by contrast, only buys about 17 years of dividends, an implied pessimism Oei considers excessive given that STRF — the safer Strategy preferred sitting above STRC — yields just 10.4%.
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What the Gap Actually Means
The $11 spread cuts both ways. If Oei is right, buyers collect a 14% yield while the price grinds back toward fair value. If the market is right, the discount is a warning that the dividend may eventually stop. Some investors have picked a side: a BitcoinTreasuries survey found more than half of holders bought the dip below par.
The Road Back to $100
Bitcoin does most of the heavy lifting. Oei's table puts STRC back at $100 if Bitcoin reaches $80,000 — and down at $58 if it falls to $40,000. But Strategy holds levers of its own. STRC listed in July 2025 at $90 with a 9% dividend, and the board has repeatedly raised the rate, now 12%, to pull the price toward par. Cash helps too: each $1 billion raised and held in reserve adds roughly four points by Oei's estimate, and a buyback adds five — since Strategy would be paying $85 for something he values at $96. In that sense, the mispricing itself becomes the company's cheapest tool, and the growing cash pile fits what one research desk has called a Bitcoin winter pivot.
The Caveats
Two qualifications belong on the table. Oei runs Treasury, a European Bitcoin treasury firm, so he has a direct interest in these securities being taken seriously. And skeptics remain unconvinced — economist Peter Schiff recently predicted a Bitcoin crash toward $20,000, while others question who ultimately absorbs the loss if Strategy's $64 billion bet unwinds.
Stripped to its essence, the debate reduces to one question: does a company holding roughly $57 billion in assets deserve this much doubt over a $1.73 billion annual dividend bill? Bitcoin's next major move will go a long way toward answering it.
Source: Based on reporting by BeInCrypto (Lockridge Okoth), drawing on Khing Oei’s published analysis and Strategy’s disclosures. Figures reflect the time of the original report. This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.
