MSCI Finalizes Rules That Could Remove Strategy and Metaplanet From Global Indexes
Key Takeaways
- •MSCI confirmed finalized rules taking effect November 30 that make non-operating companies ineligible for its Global Investable Market Indexes, with specific exclusions to be determined in the November 11, 2026 Index Review.
- •The new two-stage test first evaluates whether a company holds sufficient operating assets, then requires firms failing that screen to pass at least four of five financial ratios to retain index eligibility.
- •An MSCI simulation using May 2026 data flagged crypto treasury firms Strategy, Metaplanet, and Sharplink, plus UK uranium holder Yellow Cake, for deletion or watchlist designation.
- •JPMorgan analysts estimate Strategy could face roughly $2.8 billion in forced selling from passive funds if excluded, but Strategy disputes the figure, saying funds tied to MSCI GIMI hold only about 3.1% of its shares.
- •Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le signed a September letter denouncing the proposal as discriminatory, while the Bitcoin Policy Institute asked Congress to examine MSCI's power over the roughly $21 trillion benchmarked to it.
MSCI has finalized rules that could remove Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), Metaplanet (TYO:3350) and Sharplink (NASDAQ: SBET) from its global equity indexes, putting the corporate treasury firms on formal notice of exclusion. The index provider confirmed the changes on Thursday, and they take effect November 30 — a shift that threatens billions of dollars in passive demand for bitcoin treasury stocks.
Under the finalized framework “non-operating companies” will be ineligible for MSCI’s Global Investable Market Indexes, the benchmark suite that spans large-, mid- and small-cap stocks across developed and emerging markets. The October 15 confirmation of its August proposal passed with minor modifications and did not name any companies, leaving the actual deletions to the review cycle. All eyes now turn to November 11, when any firm exclusions will be folded into the November 2026 Index Review.
How the new screening rules work
The confirmed rules stretch MSCI’s benchmark exclusion criteria to cover corporate issuers that behave like the investment funds, business development companies and other passive vehicles it already bars.
MSCI applies a two-stage test to determine whether a firm qualifies for continued inclusion. The first test checks whether a company counts as a real business based on the amount of operating assets it holds. Issuers that fail the core screen face a second test scoring companies across five financial ratios: operating asset intensity, expense intensity, cash flow, fair value intensity and capital dependence. Firms must pass at least four of the five ratios to retain their eligibility.
Companies already in the index receive a buffer, facing exclusion only after failing the screen in both of their most recent annual filings. Firms not yet in the index will be ineligible for inclusion if they fail the test in either of their filings over the previous two years.
Crypto reserve firms flagged in MSCI simulation
An MSCI simulation run on May 2026 data put publicly traded crypto reserve firms Strategy, Metaplanet and Sharplink on alert after they were flagged alongside other asset-holding companies for deletion or watchlist designation. Yellow Cake, a UK uranium holder, was also recommended for deletion in the simulation. Metaplanet, a Tokyo-listed hotel operator turned bitcoin treasury company, and Sharplink, a US gaming firm that adopted an ether-focused treasury, are among the public companies that have followed Strategy’s balance-sheet playbook.
Strategy could see roughly $2.8 billion flow out of its stock if MSCI decides in November to drop the firm from its index, according to JPMorgan analysts. The potential outflow would result from a forced sell-off by funds tracking MSCI benchmarks. Strategy has already disputed the scale of an unfavorable MSCI decision, arguing that funds linked to MSCI GIMI hold only about 3.1% of its shares.
MSTR closed Thursday’s trading at $151.29, while Metaplanet’s stock traded at 277 yen, about $.75.
Saylor and allies keep pushing back
Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le signed a September letter calling the proposal “discriminatory, arbitrary, and misguided” and a “pretext” for targeting digital asset treasuries. The letter warned that it “would profoundly harm MSCI’s reputation as a reliable and neutral index provider.”
Saylor frames Strategy as an operating business. Originally MicroStrategy, the company sells business intelligence software to clients including Coca-Cola and Porsche, and treats its bitcoin treasury as a separate operating segment rather than an investment holding. The firm began buying bitcoin in 2020 and has since grown into the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder.
The Bitcoin Policy Institute escalated the dispute to the congressional level in a September 30 paper by Conner Brown. The BPI called on Congress to scrutinize MSCI’s power, noting that 54% of long-term US fund assets track benchmarks from just three providers and that roughly $21 trillion is benchmarked to MSCI alone, as Cryptopolitan reported. The index provider’s earlier plan to cut Strategy and Metaplanet was previously detailed by Cryptopolitan.
