The Sunday ritual of the crypto neighborhood – ready for the “orange dot” from Michael Saylor – ended this week with an surprising message from the pinnacle of Technique: “No buys this week”. For the primary time in a protracted whereas, the corporate’s aggressive $BTC accumulation engine went silent.
The rationale for the “dry week” lies within the technical state of the financing devices. Technique at the moment resembles a posh monetary mechanism working on two “engines”, and each did not ship the required output this week:
- STRC (Stretch Most popular Inventory): This instrument – Saylor’s flagship with an 11.5% yield – works successfully solely when it trades above its $100 par worth. Over the previous two weeks, STRC has remained within the “pink zone” under $100, making capital elevating by this channel unattractive.
- MSTR ATM (At-the-Market fairness gross sales): After buying 3,273 $BTC on the finish of April, the corporate selected to not overheat its personal inventory value forward of the important thing Q1 2026 earnings name on Could 5.
This technical friction and the short-term incapacity to make use of its important lever, STRC, created an ideal second for critics to query the structure of the corporate’s Bitcoin acquisition technique.
Schiff labels Technique a ‘Ponzi,’ and the obvious one
The loudest voice of this skepticism got here from none aside from Peter Schiff, who rushed to label STRC “the obvious Ponzi in historical past,” exactly as a result of the corporate is totally clear.
He argues that the mathematical wager on $BTC rising above 11.5% yearly to cowl dividend payouts is basically playing disguised as a company technique.
Technique CEO @phongle refuted my declare that $STRC is a Ponzi scheme by arguing it’s “clear” and “very clear what we’re doing.” However I by no means accused Technique of hiding the scheme. In distinction, I known as STRC the obvious Ponzi exactly as a result of $MSTR is so open about it.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) Could 3, 2026
Technique CEO Phong Le counters that transparency is the antidote. Not like Ponzi schemes, there aren’t any hidden gaps right here: the belongings sit on-chain, and capital is raised from establishments that knowingly purchase leveraged publicity to Bitcoin. Schiff responds that for those who overtly say you’re constructing a pyramid, it doesn’t cease being a pyramid.
As of early Could 2024, Technique holds 818,334 $BTC. Regardless of the pause, the common buy value at $75,537 stays under market ranges, preserving the portfolio in revenue.
