A spike in trading ahead of the ex-dividend date lifted STRC to its highest daily volume on record.

Disclosure: The author owns shares in Strategy (MSTR).

Stretch (STRC), the perpetual preferred stock from Strategy (MSTR)—the world’s largest publicly traded corporate holder of bitcoin (BTC)—generated $1.53 billion in turnover on Thursday, setting a new all-time high.

BitcoinQuant data indicates the elevated activity helped fund the purchase of roughly 11,707 bitcoin through Strategy’s at-the-market (ATM) program, which allows the firm to issue shares and channel proceeds into additional BTC accumulation.

Shares largely traded at or above their $100 par value throughout the session. Total volume came in at more than four times the 30-day average of approximately $331 million. STRC currently carries an 11.5% annual dividend yield, paid out monthly in cash.

Dividend-paying stocks often see increased demand in the session preceding the ex-dividend date—the cutoff point for eligibility for the next payout.

With Friday marking that date, STRC slipped to $99.12 in pre-market trading, down nearly 1%. Such declines are typical, as prices tend to adjust lower by roughly the dividend amount once trading begins ex-dividend.

At the same time, bitcoin fell to $80,500, pressuring Strategy’s common shares (MSTR), which dropped 2% in pre-market trading.