Strategy, the Bitcoin treasury company formerly known as MicroStrategy, issued a pointed public rebuke of MSCI's proposal to potentially exclude it from the index provider's Global Investable Market Indexes. In a statement posted August 14, the company said: "Digital assets are assets. Index providers should measure markets, not decide which assets companies are allowed to own. MSCI's proposal puts it out of step with regulators, markets, and its own customers. Bitcoin doesn't need MSCI. Neither does Strategy."
MSCI's proposal, open for consultation through September 30, would exclude so-called non-operating companies from its indexes using a two-step screen based on whether operating assets exceed 50% of total assets and five financial ratios, with a company failing at least four of the five ratios deemed ineligible. Under a simulation run using May 2026 data, Strategy, Japan's Metaplanet and uranium holding company Yellow Cake would all have been removed from the MSCI ACWI IMI index, while several other firms would land on a watchlist.
A Decision Still Months Away
MSCI has been careful to note the consultation “may or may not result in changes” to its indexes, with an outcome expected around October 16 and, if adopted, implementation timed for the next scheduled review in November. That leaves Strategy and the other affected companies roughly two months to make their case before any changes take effect, and MSCI has left open the possibility that the methodology could be revised or dropped entirely based on feedback from index users and the companies involved.
The Stakes for Bitcoin Treasury Companies
Removal from major MSCI indexes would matter beyond symbolism: passive funds that track those benchmarks are contractually required to hold index constituents, so an exclusion would force automatic selling from index-tracking funds regardless of those funds' view on Bitcoin as an asset. That mechanical effect is why Strategy's response focused specifically on the principle that index eligibility should be an objective measure of what a company is, not a judgment on which balance-sheet assets are acceptable to hold.
Related: MSCI Revives Proposal to Drop Strategy From Global Indexes
The dispute adds to a year in which Bitcoin treasury companies have increasingly had to defend their structure to traditional financial gatekeepers, even as the same companies point to growing institutional Bitcoin ETF adoption elsewhere as evidence that the asset itself is no longer in question — only the wrapper used to hold it. Strategy's own leadership has struck a confident tone through the controversy; the company's CEO recently said Bitcoin buying would resume later this year, suggesting the index fight has not altered its underlying accumulation strategy.
