Strategy's STRC Trading Volume Relies Heavily on Its Own Buybacks, New Research Shows
STRC trading hides a heavy dependence on issuer buying
A new research report from Keyrock found that Strategy, the company led by Michael Saylor, accounted for more than 20% of the weekly trading volume in its own variable-rate preferred stock (STRC) during nearly every week of September 2026. The company's buying peaked at roughly 28% the week of September 8 before easing to just under 20% in early October. Strategy has spent about $1.45 billion of its $2 billion buyback authorization as of October 4, leaving $547.2 million remaining.
The findings complicate the picture of institutional demand for STRC, one of the most actively traded preferred securities in the market with an average daily volume of about $150 million. If Strategy were to reduce or stop buying its own shares, the independent liquidity underpinning that trading volume could be smaller than the headline numbers suggest.
STRC liquidity weakens far from its reference price
Keyrock also found that STRC's market depth deteriorates sharply when the share price moves away from its $100 reference price. On the worst 10% of trading days, estimated depth within a 10 basis point price move drops from roughly $28 million to about $6.5 million. The security becomes approximately four times less liquid when trading 1% to 3% below par, and about eight times less liquid when the discount exceeds 6%. The distance of STRC from par showed a correlation of 0.43 with illiquidity, compared with only 0.10 for the magnitude of Bitcoin's daily price swings.
When Strategy's own repurchase activity is removed from the picture, estimated trading capacity falls to about 80% of reported volume. That means a $50 million exit that Keyrock estimated could be completed in under two trading days at full reported volume may take longer once the issuer's contribution is subtracted. A preferred-income manager quoted in the report suggested some trading around STRC's reference price comes from arbitrage firms and high-frequency traders responding to the issuer's activity, and those participants could pull back if Strategy withdraws.
STRC repurchases are discretionary
Strategy's share repurchase program helped support the security as its price recovered from the mid-$70s in June to approximately $99.50, close to the $100 reference price. The company can, however, modify, suspend, or terminate the program at any time. With just $547.2 million of authorization left, the question of whether STRC can sustain investor demand without continued issuer intervention becomes more pressing. Keyrock noted that its analysis does not prove how much liquidity would actually disappear if Strategy stopped buying, because other market participants could also change their behavior in response.
Sources
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.