Key Takeaways
- • MSCI decided not to exclude digital asset treasury companies, including Strategy and Metaplanet, from its indexes for now, ending a review that put billions in passive fund flows at risk.
- • Strategy shares rose as much as 7% in after-hours trading after the announcement, according to Bitcoin Magazine, with MSCI-linked funds holding roughly 13 million MSTR shares (about 3.1% of basic shares outstanding).
- • JPMorgan estimated exclusion could force passive funds to sell $2.8 billion of Strategy stock, with total outflows potentially reaching $8.8 billion if FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones followed MSCI.
- • MSCI will not raise index weightings to reflect future share issuance by these treasury firms, and a broader consultation on non-operating companies is still pending, so the exclusion threat has been deferred rather than eliminated.
- • Strategy held 848,000 bitcoin as of October 4, the largest corporate bitcoin position globally, making it the central test case for how index providers treat bitcoin-treasury companies.
Summary
MSCI told the market on October 16 that digital asset treasury companies, defined as firms whose crypto holdings make up half or more of total assets, will keep their current index treatment "for the time being." The decision ends, for now, a review that had put significant passive fund flows at risk and made Michael Saylor's Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, the test case for the broader bitcoin-treasury model. Strategy shares rose as much as 7% in after-hours trading, according to a Bitcoin Magazine report.
The stakes were material. Strategy has told investors that MSCI-linked funds hold roughly 13 million MSTR shares, about 3.1% of basic shares outstanding and close to 60% of its stated 30-day average trading volume. JPMorgan had estimated that exclusion could force passive funds to sell $2.8 billion of the stock, and total outflows could reach $8.8 billion if FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones followed MSCI's lead.
The review has a long history. MSCI first proposed excluding digital asset treasury companies in 2025, shelved that plan in January 2026 after pushback from Strategy and others, and returned on August 3 with a broader two-stage test. The first stage asks whether operating assets exceed half of a company's balance sheet; companies that fail are then assessed against five additional financial ratios, including cash flow from business activity and dependence on outside financing. Feedback closed September 30. In a formal letter to MSCI's Equity Index Committee, Saylor called the proposed test "discriminatory, arbitrary, and misguided," arguing Strategy deploys bitcoin as productive capital. Strategy held 848,000 bitcoin as of October 4, according to company disclosures.
The outcome is not an unqualified win for Strategy. MSCI did not increase index weightings to reflect future share issuance by treasury companies, which constrains Strategy's ability to expand its index footprint even as it continues issuing equity to buy bitcoin. MSCI reiterated that its indexes are built to track operating companies, not investment vehicles, and a broader consultation on non-operating firms is still forthcoming. Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed company with a similar bitcoin-treasury strategy, was named alongside Strategy in the August proposal and receives the same deferral.
Analysts note that exclusion would not require Strategy to sell any bitcoin, since the treasury sits outside index mechanics. The direct impact would fall on the equity through forced selling by passive funds. MSCI's eventual framework for non-operating companies is likely to serve as a template for other index providers and ratings desks assessing the many smaller firms that have adopted the bitcoin-treasury approach since 2024. A bitcoin policy think tank has also questioned how MSCI compiled its list of affected companies, indicating the methodology debate remains unresolved.
The stakes were material. Strategy has told investors that MSCI-linked funds hold roughly 13 million MSTR shares, about 3.1% of basic shares outstanding and close to 60% of its stated 30-day average trading volume. JPMorgan had estimated that exclusion could force passive funds to sell $2.8 billion of the stock, and total outflows could reach $8.8 billion if FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones followed MSCI's lead.
The review has a long history. MSCI first proposed excluding digital asset treasury companies in 2025, shelved that plan in January 2026 after pushback from Strategy and others, and returned on August 3 with a broader two-stage test. The first stage asks whether operating assets exceed half of a company's balance sheet; companies that fail are then assessed against five additional financial ratios, including cash flow from business activity and dependence on outside financing. Feedback closed September 30. In a formal letter to MSCI's Equity Index Committee, Saylor called the proposed test "discriminatory, arbitrary, and misguided," arguing Strategy deploys bitcoin as productive capital. Strategy held 848,000 bitcoin as of October 4, according to company disclosures.
The outcome is not an unqualified win for Strategy. MSCI did not increase index weightings to reflect future share issuance by treasury companies, which constrains Strategy's ability to expand its index footprint even as it continues issuing equity to buy bitcoin. MSCI reiterated that its indexes are built to track operating companies, not investment vehicles, and a broader consultation on non-operating firms is still forthcoming. Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed company with a similar bitcoin-treasury strategy, was named alongside Strategy in the August proposal and receives the same deferral.
Analysts note that exclusion would not require Strategy to sell any bitcoin, since the treasury sits outside index mechanics. The direct impact would fall on the equity through forced selling by passive funds. MSCI's eventual framework for non-operating companies is likely to serve as a template for other index providers and ratings desks assessing the many smaller firms that have adopted the bitcoin-treasury approach since 2024. A bitcoin policy think tank has also questioned how MSCI compiled its list of affected companies, indicating the methodology debate remains unresolved.
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