Ondo Finance has tokenized Stretch (STRC)—the variable-rate perpetual preferred stock issued by Strategy Inc., the largest publicly traded Bitcoin holder—making one of Wall Street’s newest and most-discussed yield instruments accessible on-chain across Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana.
The launch is among the first preferred stocks to be brought on-chain through tokenization, marking a notable expansion of Ondo Global Markets’ product set beyond the common stocks (Apple, Tesla, NVIDIA) and ETFs that have driven its $11+ billion in cumulative trading volume since launch.
The tokenized STRC, announced via Ondo Finance’s official X account, pays the same 11.5% annualized dividend currently distributed monthly as the underlying Nasdaq-listed preferred stock, with cash distributions of approximately $0.96 per share at the current rate.
Why STRC Specifically
STRC is not a typical preferred stock. Strategy designed it as a structurally novel income instrument—issued at $100 par per share, with a variable dividend rate adjusted monthly by Strategy’s board to keep the preferred trading near par. The mechanism works in both directions: if STRC trades below $95, the dividend rate goes up to attract buyers and pull the price back to $100; if it trades above $105, the rate can be reduced.
In the words of one analyst, the design strips out price volatility while delivering yield typically associated with credit instruments — making STRC functionally something between a money market fund and a Bitcoin proxy, since the dividend coverage is ultimately backed by Strategy’s USD reserves (currently $2.25 billion, providing approximately 21.8 months of coverage) and, by extension, its 818,000+ Bitcoin treasury.
Strategy maintained the 11.5% dividend rate for a third consecutive month in May, after the rate was increased from 11.25% in March. As of close on May 4, STRC was trading at $99.95, having traded slightly below par since April 15, with a 52-week range of $88.00 to $100.42 and a current market cap of approximately $64.57 billion.
The dividend history shows the rate’s steady climb since the security launched in July 2025:
- August 2025: 9.00% (initial rate)
- September 2025: 10.00%
- October 2025: 10.25%
- November 2025: 10.50%
- December 2025: 10.75%
- January 2026: 11.00%
- February 2026: 11.25%
- March-May 2026: 11.50%
For context, that 11.5% annualized yield is 2-4x higher than current short-duration instruments like money-market funds, CDs, or T-bills.
What Tokenized STRC Actually Is
The tokenized version, like Ondo’s other tokenized stock products, is structured as an equity-linked note (ELN) — a blockchain-based asset that tracks the price and economic exposure of the underlying STRC, including the dividend distributions, but does not confer direct shareholder rights such as voting on Strategy’s corporate matters.
Holders gain economic exposure to the underlying preferred (less applicable tax withholdings on dividends), but the tokens themselves are not preferred stock and do not provide rights to hold or receive the actual underlying shares. The design follows the same regulatory architecture Ondo uses for its tokenized common stocks — issued by Ondo Global Markets (BVI) Limited, structured to operate within existing securities frameworks such as Liechtenstein’s FMA-approved EU prospectus regime and the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) Multilateral Trading Facility framework approved in March 2026.
The tokens trade Monday 8:00 AM ET through Friday 7:59 PM ET (roughly 24/5), with peer-to-peer transfers available 24/7. Pricing reflects traditional brokerage market data via Chainlink oracles, and tokens are backed 1:1 by underlying securities held in regulated off-chain custody with licensed broker-dealers.
The Multichain Distribution Strategy
Listing simultaneously on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana continues Ondo’s expansion across the major smart contract networks. The platform’s prior tokenized stock launches have followed a similar multichain pattern: Solana support arrived in early 2026, and Ondo has integrated with major wallets, including MetaMask (200+ tokenized US stocks/ETFs added in February 2026) and most recently KuCoin’s Web3 Wallet (260+ tokenized assets added April 30).
The platform recently added on-chain proxy voting through Broadridge Financial Solutions for over 250 tokenized assets — though preferred stocks like STRC typically do not carry voting rights at the underlying-share level, making the proxy voting feature less central to STRC’s value proposition.
Why This Matters Beyond the Headline
Tokenizing STRC is editorially distinctive in three ways that go beyond the standard “Ondo adds another tokenized stock” framing:
1. It’s a preferred stock, not common. Most tokenized stock launches to date—across Ondo, xStocks, Backed Finance, and others—have focused on liquid common stocks (Tesla, NVIDIA, Apple). Preferred stocks are typically held by income-focused investors and have been largely absent from the tokenization wave. STRC is among the first to bridge that gap.
2. It bridges Bitcoin yield mechanics into DeFi rails. STRC’s coupon is funded from a combination of Strategy’s cash reserves, software business revenue, and continued capital raised by issuing more STRC shares—a model that’s been described by some analysts as “circular” in nature, where new investor capital partly funds existing dividend payments. Tokenizing STRC means crypto-native investors can hold a yield-bearing wrapper that is ultimately exposed to the same Bitcoin-treasury balance sheet as MSTR equity but in a much more stable price envelope (designed to trade near $100 rather than tracking BTC volatility 1:1).
3. It tests whether DeFi yield-seekers will rotate into MSTR’s preferred stack. With ETH staking at ~2.91% and most stablecoin yields below 5%, an 11.5% monthly-distributed wrapper—even with the structural risks Strategy’s preferred carry is a meaningfully higher yield than most current DeFi alternatives. Whether DeFi liquidity flows into tokenized STRC at scale will be one of the cleanest indicators of how serious crypto-native capital is about traditional yield substitution.
Also Read: DTCC Teams with 50+ Giants to Tokenize $114T Assets This Year
