The Bitcoin Credit Empire Just Went Public
Pierce & Pierce | Flash Brief | Nov 25, 2025, 18:45 UK
Data Verified: Strategy.com/credit | @saylor | SEC EDGAR | CoinDesk
Crypto Twitter thinks Michael Saylor just launched a yield product.
They’re missing the point.
STRC has existed since July. The 10.5% rate? That’s up from 10.25% last month, and 9% at launch. What Saylor actually did today was launch Strategy’s first mass market consumer advertising campaign.
“Imagine a bank powered by Bitcoin.”
That’s not a product announcement. That’s a declaration of intent.
The Noise: “10.5% Yield! Saylor Does It Again!”
Here’s what everyone saw:
- STRC - Strategy’s “Stretch” preferred security
- 10.50% annualized dividend - paid monthly (up from 10.25%)
- Slick ads: “Frustrated by low yields?” / “Stretch your income” / “For those who like money”
- TikTok-style pacing, retail friendly messaging
The reaction was predictable. “Based Saylor.” “This man doesn’t stop.” “Bullish.”
And yes, in a world where your savings account pays 0.3% and Fed cuts are coming, 10.5% looks incredible.
That’s exactly what he wants you to focus on.
The Signal: This Isn’t About Yield. It’s About Empire.
Zoom out.
Saylor has spent five years building a capital stack:
| Period | Instrument | Target |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Convertibles | Institutions |
| 2022-24 | ATM equity | Public markets |
| 2024-25 | STRK/STRF/STRD | Yield investors |
| Now | STRC campaign | Retail savers |
The full stack today: $77B in MSTR common, $8B in convertible debt, $3B+ in preferred securities (STRK, STRF, STRD, STRC), and a new Euro product (STRE). Strategy holds 640,808 BTC worth ~$70 billion.
Each layer funds the same thing: more Bitcoin. But the target keeps expanding.
STRC isn’t pitched to bond desks and income funds. It’s pitched to savers. To retail investors earning 0-3% watching their purchasing power erode.
Saylor is building a deposit base.
“A Bank Powered by Bitcoin”
Saylor isn’t being subtle about what he’s building.
On the Q3 earnings call, he called STRC “the company’s greatest feat of financial engineering to date.” He told CNBC: “It’s like a bank that pays you 20% interest.” He said STRC is suitable for “your family treasury” and money “you probably need to spend in six or 12 months.”
His target market? One billion people.
Let’s be precise about what this product actually is.
What STRC is:
- Perpetual preferred stock trading near a $100 peg
- 10.5% annualized dividend, paid monthly in cash
- Return of capital (ROC) structure - tax deferred benefits
- Current market value: ~$2.7 billion
- Saylor claims “tax-equivalent yield” of 16.5-20% for high earners
What STRC is NOT:
- Not a bank deposit
- Not FDIC insured
- Not collateralized by Strategy’s Bitcoin
- Not a guaranteed yield (rate adjusts to maintain $100 peg)
The key distinction:
You’re not earning Bitcoin yield. You’re earning yield from lending to Strategy Inc.
Big difference.
So no, this isn’t technically a bank.
But look at the structure:
Liabilities: Preferreds sold to yield-hungry savers (10.5%)
Assets: Bitcoin + BTC adjacent strategies
Business model: Earn more than 10.5% on assets over a cycle, pay investors the coupon, keep the spread + BTC appreciation
That’s banking in economic function. Maturity transformation. Risk transformation. Spread capture.
Saylor isn’t launching a yield product.
He’s building the first Bitcoin native financial institution. And he just opened it to retail.
Why Now? The Macro Window
The timing isn’t accidental.
Today’s backdrop:
- Fed cut odds: 81% (up from 70% yesterday)
- QT ending: December 1
- Consumer confidence: 7-month low
- Savings yields: Collapsing toward 0-3%
In this environment, 10.5% isn’t just attractive. It’s a magnet for capital fleeing low returns.
Saylor is positioning Strategy as:
“Your new savings account during monetary dilution.”
While everyone else debates whether Bitcoin is a risk asset or a hedge, Saylor is turning it into the collateral layer for a yield-bearing financial system.
The ads aren’t random. The TikTok pacing, the pain-point hooks, the orange-black minimalism: this is Strategy’s first consumer marketing campaign. Ever.
He’s not targeting crypto Twitter. He’s targeting the 100 million Americans watching their savings earn nothing.
The Competitive Landscape
Think about what Saylor is actually competing with:
| Product | Yield | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Bank savings | 0.3-1% | FDIC insured |
| Money market | 4-5% | Low risk |
| T-bills | 4.5% | Risk-free |
| STRC | 10.5% | Strategy credit risk |
The 6% spread over Treasuries tells you exactly how the market prices Strategy: junk equivalent.
But junk bonds exist because people buy them. The yield compensates for the risk. And in a yield starved world, that 6% premium will attract capital.
If it works, Saylor has just opened a new front in the Bitcoin accumulation war:
ETF flows slowing? Replace them with yield-seeker flows.
Equity dilution unpopular? Fund with preferreds instead.
Bond markets expensive? Go direct to retail.
The Long Game: Bitcoin as Base Collateral
This is what nobody’s talking about yet.
If STRC scales and Strategy launches more consumer products, the flywheel looks like this:
- Retail capital flows into Strategy preferreds
- Strategy uses capital to buy more Bitcoin
- Bitcoin becomes the collateral base for Strategy’s expanding product suite
- More products = more capital = more Bitcoin = deeper collateral base
Extend this forward:
- Bitcoin-backed loans
- Bitcoin-secured credit lines
- Bitcoin mortgage products
- Bitcoin-native banking rails
Saylor isn’t trying to be a Bitcoin holder.
He’s trying to be the JPMorgan of the Bitcoin economy.
The Risks
Strategy pays $689 million annually in interest and dividends. That’s the cost of the capital stack.
Credit risk is real:
- You’re taking Strategy Inc risk, not Bitcoin risk
- If Strategy’s model fails, BTC going up doesn’t save you
- Dividends can be cut, suspended, or eliminated
- “10.5%” is a snapshot, not a promise
Regulatory risk is real:
- Marketing high-yield products as “better than your bank” attracts scrutiny
- The disclaimers are massive for a reason
- SEC/FINRA attention could constrain growth
Narrative risk is real:
- If anything goes wrong at Strategy, critics will say “Bitcoin bank blew up”
- That conflation - Strategy ≠ Bitcoin - will be lost on mainstream media
The 6% spread exists for a reason. It’s the market’s price for these risks.
Who Is This For?
If you want Bitcoin exposure → buy Bitcoin.
If you want income and understand credit risk → STRC may sit on your radar.
If you want a savings account → this isn’t it.
If you don’t understand the risk, you may become exit liquidity.
The Bottom Line
Crypto Twitter saw a yield product.
They missed the empire.
Saylor just publicly confirmed what we’ve been tracking: the pivot from “Bitcoin holding company” to “Bitcoin-native financial institution.” The capital stack is complete. The consumer marketing has begun. The competitive positioning against traditional banks is explicit.
This is not noise.
This is the first visible brick in a Bitcoin credit empire, marketed to savers as a “better bank,” funded by their yield hunger, and backed by the thesis that Bitcoin will outperform the 10.5% he’s paying them.
Whether that thesis holds is the bet.
But the strategy is now undeniable.
A tweet just revealed a five-year master plan. Not a yield product - an empire. And the deposit window just opened.
This is educational commentary, not financial advice. STRC is a registered security—read the prospectus at sec.gov before investing. The author holds Bitcoin but no position in STRC or Strategy securities.
Pierce & Pierce
Flash Brief | November 25, 2025
Connect: pierce-pierce.ghost.io | @PiercePierceNYC
