Index Fund-amentals: MSCI Gives Bitcoin Treasury Darlings the Boot Heel 📉

MSCI has finalized rules proposed in August that could remove Strategy, Metaplanet and other bitcoin-heavy treasury companies from its Global Investable Market Indexes, with the final list of affected firms due Nov. 11 and the changes taking effect at the close of Nov. 30, 2026. Under the new methodology, companies deemed "non-operating" — entities whose main activity is holding investments rather than running an operating business — will become ineligible for the indexes. MSCI will assess companies based on their operating assets and five financial ratios; existing constituents must generally fail the screening process over two annual reporting periods before removal. The provider had previously identified Strategy (MSTR) among the companies that would be deleted under the rules, while Sharplink (SBET), Ton Strategy Company (TONX), Solana Company (HSDT) and DeFi Development Corp. (DFDV) were placed on a watchlist for potential exclusion.

Strategy, the largest publicly listed bitcoin holder with 848,250 BTC worth roughly $69.67 billion according to Bitcoin Treasuries, faces the biggest exposure. JPMorgan analysts estimated that index exclusion could trigger about $2.8 billion in stock outflows from MSTR shares, though any forced sales would hit the equity, not the company's bitcoin. MSTR closed at $151.29 on Thursday, down approximately 72% from its November 2024 record high of $543. Tokyo-based Metaplanet (3350) closed at 277 yen ($1.75) on Friday, well below its June 2025 peak of 1,930 yen. MSCI's earlier digital-asset proposal had estimated that funds tracking its Global Investable Market Indexes hold approximately 13 million shares of Strategy, representing 3.1% of its basic shares outstanding; the company said those holdings amount to less than one day's trading volume.

"It removes a company from the default portfolios of tens of millions of people who never chose to remove it," said Conner Brown, executive director of the Bitcoin Policy Institute in September, describing broad-market index exclusion with Strategy as the example. Decentralized infrastructure network ZEROBASE added on X that "the MSCI episode highlights a growing tension between traditional index construction and the rise of companies that treat Bitcoin as a core treasury asset rather than a secondary holding," noting that "passive capital has become an important source of demand for these stocks; any sustained reduction in that bid could tighten the equity-issuance window that several of them rely on to fund further purchases." Strategy opposes the changes but has previously played down potential disruption from the new rules. The final removal list will be published on Nov. 11.