Bitcoin treasury company Strategy has publicly criticized Morgan Stanley Capital International's (MSCI) proposal to exclude it from its Global Investable Market Indexes, describing the plan as "misguided" and "flawed."

In a letter sent to MSCI on Monday, Strategy founder Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le argued that the index provider is discriminating against digital asset businesses.

MSCI announced earlier this month that it was consulting on a plan to define "non-operating companies" and make them ineligible for its Global Investable Market Indexes. Removing such companies from the indexes would exclude firms like Strategy — whose Nasdaq-listed stock is visible to a large pool of institutional investors. Index membership carries practical weight: MSCI's benchmarks are tracked by large passive funds and exchange-traded funds, so removal from them can reduce a stock's presence in institutional portfolios that follow those indexes.

Strategy responded publicly to the proposed "non-operating company" exclusion, stating: "While not material to $MSTR, the proposal is misguided, flawed, and conflicts with established securities laws and accounting principles. Read our letter and share your support: " — Strategy (@Strategy), August 31, 2026.

The latest proposal follows an earlier effort in 2025, when MSCI proposed excluding from its indices all companies whose digital-asset holdings represent 50% or more of total assets. That proposal was later withdrawn.

"MSCI's continued effort to discriminate against digital assets is misguided and calls into question MSCI's neutrality and reliability," Strategy's letter read.

The letter continued: "The proposal, like the 2025 proposal that MSCI withdrew, is discriminatory, arbitrary, and misguided. If adopted, the proposal would have no meaningful impact on Strategy's business, but it would profoundly harm MSCI's reputation as a reliable and neutral index provider. Like the 2025 proposal, the current proposal should be withdrawn."

In its arguments, Strategy said MSCI was relying on unprecedented classifications to define Bitcoin as a "non-operating" asset. The company noted that it reports its Bitcoin business as an operating segment and its Bitcoin gains and losses as operating expenses. It also said MSCI's methodology for identifying "non-operating companies" was "arbitrary and unexplained," and amounted to a way of unfairly targeting digital asset treasuries. Strategy's argument touches on a broader accounting debate: under fair-value accounting rules adopted in recent years, companies like Strategy mark their bitcoin holdings to market each quarter, with gains and losses flowing through their income statements.

Strategy further contended that it is an operating business, employing 1,500 people worldwide and actively using its Bitcoin holdings to "create shareholder value."

Strategy — formerly known as MicroStrategy — began as an enterprise software company before pivoting to buying and holding bitcoin in 2020. The company initially purchased the cryptocurrency as a way to protect shareholders, but has since aggressively accumulated the asset and is now the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, with 845,050 bitcoins worth $65.8 billion at current prices. Its model has since been imitated by a wave of other public companies that have added bitcoin or other digital assets to their treasuries, meaning the outcome of MSCI's consultation could have implications beyond Strategy alone.

Investors can buy Strategy's Nasdaq-listed stock (MSTR) to gain heightened exposure to bitcoin's performance. MSTR closed Monday's trading session 4% higher. Year-to-date, the stock is down 15%. The next milestone to watch is the conclusion of MSCI's consultation, when the index provider decides whether to proceed with, revise, or withdraw the proposed "non-operating company" definition — the same decision point at which the 2025 proposal was pulled back.

This post first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.