Digital credit

"Digital credit" is a label for preferred stock issued by companies that hold bitcoin as their main treasury asset. The holder receives a stated dividend; the issuer uses the money raised mainly to acquire bitcoin and to fund a cash reserve for future dividends.

The phrase comes from Strategy. In its quarterly report for the period ended 30 June 2026, Strategy describes issuing "preferred securities, which we collectively refer to as 'digital credit'" (10-Q, filed 3 August 2026). That report lists five series under the label: STRF, STRC, STRE, STRK and STRD.

What the instruments have in common

• No maturity date. They are perpetual preferred stock. There is no date on which the issuer has to return the money.
• A $100 (or €100, £100) stated amount on which the dividend rate is calculated.
• Equity, not debt. They rank behind all of the issuer's debt in the capital stack and ahead of common shares.
• Bitcoin is not pledged. Strategy's August 2026 STRC briefing says STRC "is not collateralized by Strategy's bitcoin holdings" (FWP, 24 August 2026).

Other issuers

Strive issued SATA in November 2025 and SATS on 20 October 2026. The Smarter Web Company admitted its sterling preferred shares, MORE, to the London Stock Exchange on 14 October 2026. Metaplanet has a privately placed Class B preferred ("MERCURY") and an approved but unissued Class A ("MARS"), according to press coverage that has not yet been checked against its primary disclosures.

The term is a marketing label, not a legal category. In law, each instrument is a series of preferred stock with its own certificate of designations. For a longer introduction, see what is digital credit.

What to check in the filing

• The ranking clause (what the series sits above and below)
• Whether dividends are cumulative
• Redemption and fundamental change terms