Strategy pushes back as MSCI weighs dropping it from indexes

Strategy pushed back against a new MSCI proposal that could remove it from major global stock indexes, arguing that index providers should track markets rather than decide which assets a company is allowed to hold, the company said.

MSCI opened a consultation in early August proposing a new "non-operating company" methodology for its Global Investable Market Indexes, replacing an earlier draft that would have simply excluded companies whose digital assets exceeded 50% of total assets. The new approach runs a two-step test: a core screen checking whether operating assets exceed half of total assets, followed by an exclusion screen that flags companies failing at least four of five financial ratios. Based on May 2026 data, applying the new methodology would remove Strategy, Metaplanet, and uranium holder Yellow Cake from the MSCI ACWI IMI Index.

Strategy's own FY2025 filings reportedly fail all five of MSCI's ratios, a reflection of how much of its balance sheet is Bitcoin acquired through convertible debt and equity issuance rather than revenue from software operations. The company has made this argument before: in a December 2025 filing, it argued it functions as an active operating business, running software products, treasury management, and Bitcoin-backed credit instruments, rather than as a passive vehicle for holding Bitcoin. MSCI's feedback window on the new proposal closes September 30, with a final methodology expected October 16 and the actual index review set for November 11.

Digital assets are assets. Index providers should measure markets, not decide which assets companies are allowed to own.

• MSCI's new "non-operating company" test would flag firms failing 4 of 5 financial ratios for possible index exclusion
• Applying it to May 2026 data would remove Strategy, Metaplanet, and Yellow Cake from the MSCI ACWI IMI Index
• Strategy reportedly fails all five of MSCI's ratios under its FY2025 filings
• MSCI feedback window closes September 30; final methodology due October 16; index review set for November 11
• Strategy maintains it operates as an active business, not a passive Bitcoin holding vehicle

An index exclusion would matter beyond symbolism: passive funds tracking MSCI's global benchmarks are required to hold whatever the index holds, so removal cuts off a steady, mechanical source of demand for Strategy's shares regardless of what active investors think. The stakes are sharper given where Strategy's valuation already sits: the company's market value recently fell below the value of the Bitcoin sitting on its own balance sheet, a gap index exclusion would likely widen rather than close. Metaplanet, the other major name on MSCI's list, has been managing its own scrutiny over its Bitcoin holdings lately, after its CEO had to publicly deny rumors of a Bitcoin sale following a large internal transfer; a shared MSCI exclusion would put both companies' index status under pressure at the same time, for the same underlying reason. Neither Strategy nor Metaplanet has said publicly what it would do if the exclusion becomes final, though both have spent the past year arguing loudly that their Bitcoin holdings sit inside an active operating business rather than a passive wrapper.

Nothing here should be taken as financial advice — just information to consider.