MSCI Introduces New Restrictions for Non-Operating Companies

MSCI has finalized a methodology change that could remove Bitcoin treasury companies, including Michael Saylor’s Strategy, from its widely followed equity indexes. The decision could reduce passive investment demand for companies whose market identities and balance sheets are closely tied to Bitcoin holdings.

In an announcement dated October 15, MSCI confirmed that companies classified as “non-operating companies” will be ineligible for its Global Investable Market Indexes. The policy, which follows a proposal introduced in August with minor modifications, is scheduled to take effect at the close of November 30 as part of the provider’s November index review.

The revised methodology is designed to identify issuers that lack substantial operating assets and function more like passive investment vehicles than conventional operating businesses.

How the New Eligibility Test Works

MSCI will assess companies through an initial core screen. Issuers that fail this stage will face an additional exclusion test based on five financial ratios. A company will be flagged as ineligible if it meets at least four of the five exclusion criteria.

The framework could affect businesses whose assets are heavily concentrated in a single holding, particularly Bitcoin. Strategy, which has accumulated a substantial Bitcoin position, helped establish the corporate treasury model that has since been adopted by Metaplanet and other companies.

MSCI has introduced safeguards intended to limit unnecessary index turnover. Existing constituents will be removed only if they fail the screening requirements in both of their two most recent annual filing periods. Companies seeking inclusion will be excluded if they fail the test in either of the two most recent periods.

MSCI said it will publish the final list of affected companies on November 11, ahead of the rule’s implementation.

End of Temporary Relief for Digital-Asset Treasury Firms

The finalized policy also ends an interim measure introduced as the digital-asset treasury sector expanded. Under that arrangement, MSCI had frozen certain index adjustments for companies whose digital-asset holdings represented at least 50% of total assets.

That temporary treatment will be discontinued, bringing those companies under the new eligibility framework. Their continued inclusion will depend on the revised methodology rather than the previous exemption.

The change introduces a more formal distinction between operating companies that hold digital assets and businesses whose financial profiles are primarily shaped by those holdings.

Strategy Challenges the Decision

Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le have urged MSCI to withdraw the proposed eligibility test. In a letter described in the supplied report, the executives called the approach “discriminatory, arbitrary, and misguided,” arguing that it targets digital-asset treasury companies.

The finalized decision means the companies face a potential index eligibility challenge despite Strategy’s continued Bitcoin accumulation. Metaplanet has also made treasury changes, including selling 10,000 Bitcoin and buying back 11,000, which the report describes as an effort to demonstrate active treasury management.

These actions underscore the importance of how index providers classify companies whose strategies differ from those of traditional operating businesses.

What Investors Should Watch Next

The November 11 list of affected companies will be the next important milestone. Investors will then have greater clarity on which issuers face exclusion ahead of the November 30 implementation date.

If Strategy or other Bitcoin treasury firms are removed from major MSCI benchmarks, funds tracking those indexes would generally need to sell their shares. Such selling could create pressure on share prices and affect the premium at which some treasury companies trade relative to the value of their digital-asset holdings.

The extent of any market impact will depend on the final list, the funds and benchmarks involved, and how investors respond to the revised classification rules. For now, the decision places index eligibility alongside Bitcoin prices and treasury strategy as a factor investors may need to assess when evaluating these companies.