Castle has opened its automated financial platform to individual users, allowing customers to convert any portion of the 12% annual dividend paid by Strategy’s STRC preferred stock into Bitcoin. The feature, announced Tuesday, lets personal account holders choose to receive STRC dividends in cash, Bitcoin, or a combination of both.
STRC carries a 12% variable annual dividend rate for September record dates. Strategy pays the dividend in cash, after which Castle handles the Bitcoin purchase based on the percentage set by each account holder. Users can keep the entire payout in cash, convert all of it into Bitcoin, or set a mixed allocation that runs automatically at each payment date unless changed.
Castle co-founder and CTO João Almeida said the product was designed for investors who want regular income while building a Bitcoin position. “Investors have long faced a choice between earning steady yield and holding bitcoin. Castle eliminates that trade-off,” Almeida said.
On the same day, Strategy said it spent $176.3 million repurchasing STRC stock between Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, and doubled its Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program from $1 billion to $2 billion. The company bought 1,810,885 STRC shares, leaving $1.19 billion remaining under the authorization as of Sept. 7. Strategy used U.S. dollar cash and did not change its Bitcoin holdings, which stood at 845,050 BTC with an average acquisition cost of about $75,412 per Bitcoin. The company also retained a separate $1 billion MSTR stock repurchase authorization but used none during the period.
Elsewhere, Strive reported a fresh Bitcoin purchase on Sept. 8, buying 1,375 BTC between Aug. 31 and Sept. 4 at an average price of $79,281 per Bitcoin, inclusive of fees. That brought Strive’s total Bitcoin holdings to 24,531 BTC. Strive also held 505,000 shares of Strategy’s STRC stock, valued at $49.364 million on Sept. 4, implying roughly $97.75 per share—about 2.25% below the $100 stated amount.
Strategy’s buyback policy has targeted STRC purchases below its $100 stated amount, with management saying in July that repurchases should taper as the preferred stock approaches that level. Investors will watch whether Strategy resumes Bitcoin purchases or activates its MSTR authorization as STRC moves closer to $100.
Castle previously limited its automated Bitcoin financial services to businesses and nonprofit organizations. The company said requests from existing business customers led it to develop personal accounts. Castle was founded by Stephen Cole and João Almeida and is backed by Boost VC and Winklevoss Capital.
