Robinhood added Stretch (STRC), the latest preferred stock of Strategy. With the latest addition, Robinhood taps an even wider buyer base of retail investors.
Robinhood added access to Stretch (STRC), Strategy’s variable-rate, perpetual preferred stock. STRC was launched with a face value of $100 and 9% annualized dividend paid monthly, though it traded at $99 after the Robinhood listing, with an effective rate of 10.34%.
STRC aims to raise funds for Strategy while competing with traditional fixed-income products. STRC debuted in July, launching with a price of $90 during a period of relatively low market demand. The launch of STRC on Robinhood immediately reached influencers on crypto social media, buying the preferred shares as a form of support for Strategy.
For Robinhood, this will be a new class of assets to be offered to the retail user base. STRC taps a low-risk strategy with a monthly curated dividend. Strategy announces the monthly dividend each month, to keep the price of STRC as close as possible to $100. STRC was the last asset to be added to Strategy’s portfolio, managing to raise $2.47B during its placement in July.
STRC offers a complex investment product for retail buyers
The goal of STRC is stability and predictability, achieving a fixed-income product with BTC backing. STRC is above STRD, STRK, and MSTR common stock in terms of investor priority, but below STRF and senior debt.
STRC aims for price stability, achieved through a variable monthly dividend and an embedded call option to control the price above $100. | Source: Google FinanceSTRC looks like a simple product for retail investors, but it is in fact a complex investment product with mechanisms to stabilize the price.
Strategy can decide to issue STRC, or exercise an embedded call option if STRC exceeds its upper band. STRC is less risky than the STRD product, allowing Strategy to layer risk in different products with various levels of seniority.
STRC advertises itself as an investment-grade product, with over 10X backing in BTC based on seniority. For now, Strategy has not sold any BTC to improve its structure, but in theory, it could cover the dividends for STRC and STRF, the two investment-grade products.
Robinhood taps 25.9M potential investors for Strategy
Robinhood now carries STRC, STRK, and STRF, so far avoiding the riskier STRD product. MSTR is also available to retail buyers for the simplest and most volatile strategy.
The addition of those complex assets breaks away from Robinhood’s practice of avoiding preferred shares. The asset listing reaches 25.9M retail investors, potentially giving Strategy more leeway for its purchases.
The addition of a wider retail market follows a period where Strategy was buying relatively small weekly amounts of BTC, sparking fears of more difficult fundraising.
However, Strategy can also achieve rapid reversals during BTC rallies. Common stock MSTR rallied to over $348, up from a recent low just above $300. A market improvement means Strategy can begin reacting immediately, issuing at-the-market shares. This would in turn translate to higher BTC prices and larger weekly purchases.
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/robinhood-adds-stretch-strc-expanding-portfolio-of-strategy-preferred-shares/
