STRF vs. STRK vs. STRC: Which One Suits Me?

Short answer: If you want a stable, predictable income and a price close to $100, STRC fits. If you want a fixed rate with the best place in the ranking, STRF fits. If you want a chance at a sharply rising MSTR price on top of the income, STRK fits. None of the three fits if you need your money back safely on a fixed date.

All three are preferred stocks of Strategy, and all three depend on the same bitcoin holdings. Still, they behave differently when interest rates rise, bitcoin falls or MSTR rallies. Here you place yourself with three questions and see what €10’000 earns in each one and what it can cost.

Three securities, three purposes

How the securities are built in detail is covered in STRC (Stretch) explained and in the comparison of the fixed-rate ones, STRF, STRK, STRD, STRE. This article only asks: which of them fits what you plan to do with the money?

As of 12 Nov 2026 (closing prices from Yahoo Finance; rate, rank and holdings per Strategy and SEC filings). Drop: closing price on 29 May 2026 to the low in June 2026.

One point that is often misunderstood: the payment schedule no longer sets them apart. STRC has paid daily since November 2026. STRF and STRK pay quarterly until the end of 2026 and, according to Strategy, also have a daily record date from 1 January 2027. From 2027 you get money every month from all three.

The decision in three questions

Question 1: Do you need the money back on a fixed date?

If yes, none of the three is right. All three are perpetual. You only get out by selling on the exchange, at that day's price. In June 2026 that would have cost 14 to 26%, depending on the security. For money with a fixed date, a fixed-term deposit or short-dated bonds fit better.

Question 2: What matters more to you, a calm price or a fixed rate?

This is the real choice between STRC and STRF.

• STRC holds the price, not the rate. Strategy adjusts the rate every month so that the price stays close to $100. When interest rates rise, the rate usually rises. When they fall, Strategy may cut it. Your income moves, your capital tends to move less.
• STRF holds the rate, not the price. $10 per share per year, whatever interest rates do. If the market demands a higher yield, the price falls instead. Your income is fixed, your capital moves.

If you live off the dividends and rarely touch the capital, STRF can suit you well. If you need the capital for something else in a few years, STRC keeps you closer to what you put in.

Question 3: Will you give up income for a chance?

STRK pays 8% instead of 10% on its face value and ranks far back. In return you can swap each STRK for 0.1 MSTR shares at any time. That only pays off when MSTR rises above about $671, almost six times today's price. Until then STRK is an ordinary preferred stock with an effective yield of 11.9%.

The decision table

Example: €10’000 in each of the three

All examples use prices from 12 Nov 2026 and $1 = €0.904. €10’000 is therefore about $11’062. Dividends before tax, with rate, price and exchange rate unchanged.

With your own amount, your rate and a mix of several securities, calculate here:

The risks by investor type

The general risks of bitcoin preferred stocks are described in The risks of bitcoin preferred stocks. Here, only what makes the difference for your choice.

If you choose STRC

• Rate risk: 12% is the rate for November 2026, not a promise. Since launch it has risen from 9%. It can also fall again, though never below the US reference rate SOFR.
• The calm price is a goal, not a guarantee. In June 2026 STRC fell from $98.99 to $74.57. On €10’000 that would have been about €2’470 less. By the end of September it was back above $99.
• Redemption: Strategy may buy STRC back at $101. Then your income ends and you have to reinvest.

If you choose STRF

• Interest-rate risk: a fixed rate with no maturity reacts strongly to the level of interest rates. That is the price of the fixed income.
• You pay a premium. STRF costs more than its face value. If the price falls back to $100, you lose almost 2%.
• In return, the best protection of the three: only below about €8’510 per bitcoin would the claims up to and including STRF no longer be fully covered (as of 12 Nov 2026). If a dividend is missed, the rate rises by one percentage point per quarter according to the prospectus, up to 18%. In June 2026 STRF fell least, by 14%.

If you choose STRK

• Rank 4 of 5: ahead of you are the debt, STRF, STRC and STRE. Coverage is 3.26×; below about €19’620 per bitcoin STRK would no longer be fully covered.
• Dividends in shares: Strategy may pay the STRK dividend in MSTR shares instead of cash, valued at 95% of the average price. Then you have to sell yourself when you need money.
• The upside is tied to MSTR, not to bitcoin. In June 2026 MSTR fell 48%, STRK 26%. If bitcoin rises only moderately, the conversion right stays worthless.

For all three

One issuer, one bitcoin holding, one access to the capital markets. Strategy's software business does not cover the preferred dividends; Strategy pays most of them from selling new shares. How debt and preferred stocks stack up at Strategy is explained in Strategy's capital structure. All three pay in dollars: if the dollar falls 10%, your income in euros or francs falls 10% too.

How several securities combine into a monthly income is shown by the three example portfolios for monthly cash flow.

Tax: what matters for your choice

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland the dividends of all three are treated alike: as dividends of a US company. With form W-8BEN the US withholds 15%, which you have credited against your own tax. The details are in Taxing Digital Credit dividends.

For the examples above that means roughly, without church tax and with the saver's allowance already used up:

In Switzerland you pay tax on the dividend at your personal rate. There are still two differences between the securities:

1. Price gains in Switzerland: for private investors they are tax-free. STRK trades a third below its face value; if the price recovers, that part of your return would be tax-free in Switzerland, but not in Germany or Austria. That is a possibility, not a promise, and no reason to pick a rank-4 security.
2. STRK dividends in shares: if Strategy pays in MSTR shares, expect them to be taxed as income too, even though no cash arrives. You then pay the tax from other money or by selling.

Rule of thumb: STRC buys a calm price, STRF buys a fixed rate and a place near the front of the queue, STRK buys a bet on MSTR. Choose by what you plan to do with the money, not by the highest number.