The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission granted a five-year innovation exemption on September 17 permitting tokenized National Market System stocks to trade on venues built around automated market makers and liquidity pools, without those venues registering as exchanges. Michael Saylor, chairman of Strategy, said the relief enables 24/7 onchain trading of tokenized MSTR and STRC for U.S. investors through qualifying venues.
Under the exemption, tokens must be backed one-to-one by the underlying share and carry the same rights, including votes, dividends, and proxies. Synthetic exposure is not covered. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the measure is designed to resolve challenges preventing responsible innovation in the United States while providing investor protections and market integrity standards.
Strategy's Position
Strategy holds 845,050 BTC and $6.4 billion in USD assets. STRC is a variable-rate perpetual preferred share collateralized by the company's bitcoin and dollar reserves. Saylor has characterized the instrument as digital credit, arguing it offers greater liquidity, transparency, and lower fees compared to traditional private credit instruments.
The company has been repurchasing STRC, spending $139 million on buybacks between September 8 and September 13 while buying no BTC during that period. STRC has been trading below its $100 par value.
Market Context
Bitcoin touched $77,000 following a Federal Open Market Committee rate increase of 25 basis points, which triggered roughly $260 million in short liquidations. Saylor has noted that bitcoin fell 47 percent over a period in which STRC gained 9 percent.
