Ward's criticism, reported by The Block on June 15, centres on a promotional video Saylor published depicting a woman at a luxury tropical resort who claims she retired early on STRC's monthly dividend income. The tagline read: "You weren't meant to live an uncomfortable life." The video drew more than 1.67 million views before prompting widespread backlash. Ward said: "Saylor put out a video talking about his yield with STRC...it was making it out that there is no risk involved."

A second AI-generated advertisement, documented by Protos, further establishes the promotional pattern. In a parody-style video in the vein of "Spinal Tap," Saylor's ad presents a dial comparing STRC's 11.5% yield to a checking account at 0% and a money market at 3%, with the call-to-action "stretch your income." Taken together, the two campaigns frame STRC as a low-risk, income-generating alternative to conventional savings products.

What STRC Actually Is

STRC, formally known as Strategy's Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, is listed on Nasdaq and pays an annualised dividend yield of 11.50 percent in monthly instalments. The stock trades near its $100 par value but carries no maturity date, which means investors who want their principal back must sell on the open market rather than waiting for repayment. That distinction matters: STRC's 52-week trading range includes a low of $90.52, representing a potential loss of more than 9 percent below the par value that Saylor's marketing implies is a stable floor.

Critically, the dividend rate itself carries no contractual guarantee. OAK Research, which published a detailed structural analysis of STRC, found that the stability mechanism "is not based on any contractual obligation. Strategy retains full discretion over the dividend rate."

Strategy's own SEC filings state the company is "not required to hold any assets to back the STRC Stock." The security carries no FDIC, NCUA, or SIPC protection, the three main forms of insurance that cover bank deposits and brokerage accounts in the United States. OAK Research summarised the position plainly: "STRC is not a money market fund, not a bank deposit, and not a Treasury bill. STRC is not regulated like these instruments and does not benefit from the same protections."

Despite that, Saylor has described the product as a "high-yield bank account" and a "money market substitute" in multiple public appearances since at least September 2025, according to Protos.

Strategy CEO Phong Le has called it an instrument offering "the upside of a Bitcoin-backed security, with the stability of a traditional credit product," in remarks reported by Decrypt.

The Financial Picture Behind the Yield

Strategy holds 818,334 BTC, currently valued at roughly $67 billion. The performance of that treasury is the economic foundation Saylor cites for STRC's dividend capacity, but the company is under no legal obligation to hold any assets in support of the stock.

In late May 2026, the company sold 32 BTC at an average price of approximately $77,135 per coin, raising around $2.5 million to fund a preferred dividend payment. Saylor called the sale "inconsequential," but reporting by CoinDesk raised broader questions about capital sustainability in light of the company's growing preferred equity obligations.

Those obligations are not small. The current annual dividend burden sits at roughly $1.5 billion. If Strategy completes what it calls its "42/42 plan," OAK Research estimates that annual preferred dividend payments could exceed $3.4 billion.

Strategy also posted a $14.5 billion net loss in Q1 2026, attributed primarily to declining Bitcoin valuations during the quarter. The company has since continued accumulating BTC and its share price has partially recovered from the quarter's lows.

Ward is not the only voice raising concerns. YouTuber Coffeezilla has publicly questioned Saylor's yield claims. Martin Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical executive who was convicted of securities fraud, called for Saylor's arrest over the advertising content. A contributor to Bitcoin Magazine warned that Saylor is "becoming the system Bitcoin was built to oppose."

The Global Retail Exposure Problem

The stakes are elevated beyond the United States. On May 4, 2026, Ondo Finance tokenised STRC and made it available on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana through its Ondo Global Markets platform. The product explicitly targets non-US investors across Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, while excluding US and UK users for regulatory reasons.

That on-chain access matters because 83 percent of STRC holders globally are retail investors, according to data cited by Glenn Cameron, Global Head of Onramp Institutional.

Cameron noted: "The only investment advice these individuals received came from podcast hosts or the company selling the securities." For retail participants in India, Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, Ghana, and similar markets who have direct DeFi-native access to STRC via Ondo but limited access to independent financial advice, the combination of a recognisable brand name, an 11.5 percent yield, and aspirational advertising creates what OAK Research's structural analysis describes as a significant environment for misrepresentation.

One additional risk falls specifically on non-US holders. In 2025, 100 percent of STRC distributions were classified as Return of Capital for US taxpayers, producing a tax-equivalent yield of approximately 18.3 percent for high earners. That tax benefit is not available to investors outside the United States, meaning international retail buyers accessing STRC through Ondo receive a structurally less favourable version of the product than the one most prominently promoted.

Regulatory Backdrop

In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority has required that crypto and high-risk financial promotions be "fair, clear and not misleading" since October 2023. The Advertising Standards Authority separately prohibited a Coinbase UK advertising campaign in January 2026 under this same promotional framework. That action is a closer analogue to the social media and YouTube advertising at issue in the STRC case than the FCA's first High Court action against a crypto firm, HTX, for illegal marketing under that regime earlier in 2026. STRC is a US equity product rather than a cryptoasset, but its promotion to UK retail audiences through social media and YouTube could still fall within the FCA's financial promotion perimeter depending on who communicated it within the UK.

21Shares has separately launched a Strategy Yield ETN on the London Stock Exchange to give UK investors regulated access to STRC income exposure, a move that reflects genuine demand but also underscores why Ward's concerns carry institutional weight in the domestic market. Duncan Moir, President of 21Shares, described the ETN as bringing "an innovative tool to generate income that simply was not accessible in an ETN wrapper before."

Strategy had not responded to Ward's "dishonest" characterisation at the time of publication.

With STRC's authorised issuance cap set at $28 billion and Ondo expanding its reach across emerging markets, the question of how the product is described to retail audiences is likely to attract regulatory attention across multiple jurisdictions.