Strategy shareholders approve daily dividends on four preferred stocks

Strategy shareholders approved amendments on Oct. 28 that let the bitcoin treasury company pay dividends on four preferred stocks every business day, moving off the semi-monthly and quarterly schedules the securities ran on before. The company said preliminary results showed 99.3% of votes cast in favor, and it disclosed the outcome in a Form 8-K filed the same day.

The vote covers all four series: the 10% Strife (STRF), the variable-rate Stretch (STRC), the 8% Strike (STRK) and the 10% Stride (STRD), each listed on Nasdaq. Under the amended certificates of designations, every calendar day becomes a dividend record date, weekends and bank holidays included, once the certificates are filed and take effect, the filing shows. The new schedule is effective Nov. 1 for STRC and Jan. 1, 2027 for the other three.

Payments follow the next business day. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor put STRC's first record date at Nov. 1 with payment on Nov. 2, and the first record and payment dates for STRF, STRK and STRD at Jan. 1 and Jan. 4, Unchained reported. Dividends still accrue on weekends, but the cash lands on the following business day, Bitcoin Magazine noted. Scheduled annual rates and total payout obligations do not change, Cointelegraph reported.

The rates vary by series. Cointelegraph put the fixed dividends across the group at 8% to 12%, with STRC's variable rate currently set at 12%. Strategy's quarterly report put STRC's rate for the month ended June 30 at 11.50%, according to Bitcoin Magazine. Shareholders had already approved moving STRC to semi-monthly payments in June. STRK also lets holders convert into Strategy common stock.

Weekend dividends settle in a particular way. The Depository Trust Company does not recognize weekend or holiday record dates for shares it clears and shifts them back to the most recent business day, so several days of dividends can bunch onto one record date, one ex-dividend date and one payment date, Unchained explained. The filing uses Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 6 to Nov. 8, as its example: DTC assigns all three a record date of Nov. 6, Nasdaq treats that day as the ex-dividend date for all three, and all three are paid on Monday, Nov. 9. Because trades settle on a T+1 basis, an investor who buys on Nov. 6 receives none of the three payments while a seller that day keeps all three, the 8-K states. Shares held outside DTC and weekend-trading venues may be treated differently, and the filing tells investors to consult their brokers.

The proposal itself surfaced on Sept. 25, when Strategy asked holders to attend a special meeting on Oct. 28. The company said at the time that the change "would reduce reinvestment lag, enhance liquidity and market efficiency, and increase price stability," a quote carried in Bitcoin Magazine's report, and told shareholders that dividends and total payouts would stay the same. The 8-K confirms the requisite vote was obtained from common shares outstanding as of the Sept. 25 record date but does not give a vote count. Saylor's 99.3% figure comes from preliminary results, and Strategy has not published a final tally; certification will arrive in a later company filing, with board action still required before any new payment schedule begins.

Strategy is not alone in moving to daily payouts. Fellow bitcoin treasury company Strive has paid cash dividends on its SATA preferred stock every business day since June 16, Bitcoin Magazine reported. Strive launched a second preferred security, SATS, at a fixed 15% annual rate with daily payments scheduled to begin Nov. 9 subject to declaration, and closed a $630 million offering of it on Oct. 20 by selling 7 million shares at $90 each, according to Cointelegraph.

Strategy remains the largest publicly traded corporate bitcoin holder with 848,517 BTC, while Strive ranks fourth with 43,000 BTC, Cointelegraph reported citing BitcoinTreasuries.net data. Strategy's holdings were acquired for $64.02 billion at an average price of $75,446 per bitcoin, and the company spent $204.9 million repurchasing STRC that week while keeping a $4.83 billion cash reserve. The first STRC record date under the approved structure falls on Nov. 1, with payment on Nov. 2.