TheBlock
Susie Violet Ward, director of Bitcoin Policy UK and a self-described Strategy shareholder, said a recent video by executive chairman Michael Saylor promoting STRC — Strategy's perpetual preferred share offering an 11.25% dividend — mischaracterised the risk profile of the instrument. "It's the risk I'm uncomfortable with. I don't think the risk is explained," Ward told The Block at last week's BTC Prague conference. "Saylor put out a video talking about his yield with STRC … it was making it out that there is no risk involved, and I thought it was really dishonest."
Strategy has been using STRC proceeds to fund further bitcoin accumulation, a model Ward argues layers financial engineering on top of an asset whose appeal is its scarcity. She compared the share-issuance-to-buy-BTC playbook favoured by an expanding roster of digital asset treasury companies to "fiat games" that resemble memecoin-style pump-and-dump schemes.
Why it matters
The complaint is unusual because it comes from inside the bitcoin-maximalist camp — a shareholder, not a short seller — which gives the dilution critique more weight than the usual bearish analyst note. Ward's core objection is structural: every new share issued to buy bitcoin dilutes existing shareholders, and that mechanism is the opposite of the hard-capped scarcity story that originally drew capital into BTC in the first place. The critique lands as a wave of smaller public companies have reinvented themselves as treasury plays since BTC peaked in October 2025.
Market impact
Strategy's MSTR traded near $132 on Monday, down more than 60% over the past year, while bitcoin itself has lost nearly 50% from that October peak. The company disclosed an additional 1,587 BTC purchase at an average price of $63,024, lifting total holdings to 846,842 BTC. With treasury-company share prices tightly correlated to spot BTC, the dilution-versus-scarcity argument Ward is making has direct read-across to every copycat still raising capital in the same model.
Frequently asked questions
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What is STRC and why is it controversial?
STRC is Strategy's perpetual preferred share offering an 11.25% dividend. Proceeds are used to buy more bitcoin. Critics like Susie Violet Ward argue the structure layers financial engineering and dilution risk on top of an asset whose appeal is scarcity.
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Who is Susie Violet Ward and why does her criticism carry weight?
Ward is director of Bitcoin Policy UK and a self-described Strategy shareholder, so her critique comes from inside the bitcoin-maximalist camp rather than from short sellers or traditional bears.
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What did Michael Saylor's STRC video actually say?
Per Ward, the video highlighted the 11.25% yield on STRC but did not adequately explain the underlying risk. Ward characterised the framing as making the instrument look risk-free, which she called dishonest.
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How are Strategy and the treasury-company cohort performing?
MSTR traded near $132 on Monday, down more than 60% over the prior year. Bitcoin itself has lost nearly 50% from its October 2025 peak. Strategy disclosed an additional 1,587 BTC purchase at an average $63,024, taking holdings to 846,842 BTC.
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What is the dilution argument Ward is making?
Ward argues that issuing new shares to buy bitcoin dilutes existing shareholders, contradicting the hard-capped scarcity story that originally attracted capital to BTC. She has applied the same critique to the broader wave of public companies following Strategy's treasury playbook.
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