S&P Assigns Strategy a B- Issuer Credit Rating

S&P Global Ratings assigned Strategy Inc. a B- issuer credit rating with a stable outlook in late October 2025, bringing one of the largest corporate Bitcoin experiments inside the framework of conventional credit analysis. Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, had transformed itself from a business-software company into the world's largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin, financing its accumulation through common equity, convertible debt, and multiple classes of preferred stock.

S&P's analysis focused directly on the unusual balance-sheet structure created by that strategy. The agency cited Strategy's high concentration in bitcoin, narrow business focus, weak risk-adjusted capitalization, and low U.S.-dollar liquidity as weaknesses. Those risks were partly offset by strong access to capital markets, the absence of near-term debt maturities, and management's use of equity financing. The underlying mismatch was fundamental: most of Strategy's obligations were payable in dollars, while much of its asset value and market identity depended on a volatile Bitcoin reserve.

The rating was historically important because it represented a traditional credit-rating institution treating a Bitcoin treasury company as a distinct corporate-credit problem rather than simply commenting on Bitcoin as an investment. Investors in Strategy's convertible debt and preferred securities could now evaluate the company through a familiar ratings framework that explicitly incorporated Bitcoin volatility, liquidity, and refinancing risk.

The event also reflected how far the corporate treasury model had developed by 2025. Bitcoin exposure was no longer confined to equity-market speculation around Strategy's stock; it had become embedded in debt, preferred equity, index eligibility, and formal credit analysis. Later market stress would test many of the concerns S&P identified, giving the inaugural rating additional retrospective significance.