Strategy tells MSCI ‘Bitcoin doesn’t need you’ as $2.8 billion index risk hangs over MSTR

An important story is making waves across the blockchain ecosystem. Strategy faces a renewed threat of removal from major MSCI equity indexes under a broader screening proposal that could trigger an estimated $2. 8 billion in passive selling. MSCI opened a consultation this month on rules designed to identify “non-operating companies” through their financial statements.

The firm noted that applying the proposed methodology to the MSCI ACWI IMI using May 2026 data would have resulted in three deletions, including Michael Saylor-led Strategy, Tokyo-listed Bitcoin holder Metaplanet, and London-listed uranium investor Yellow Cake. MSCI flags Strategy, Yellow Cake and Metaplanet for ACWI IMI deletion, while Center Laboratories, Lydian and SharpLink remain on watchlist. Strategy pushed back against the premise of MSCI’s proposal, arguing that index providers should reflect markets rather than influence corporate asset allocation.

Market Dynamics

It said: “MSCI’s proposal puts it out of step with regulators, markets, and its own customers. Bitcoin doesn’t need MSCI. Neither does Strategy.

” Strategy's MSTR shares fell about 2% in pre-market trading following the news. MSCI replaces its crypto threshold with a broader financial test MSCI's latest approach reaches much further than the crypto-only rule it abandoned earlier this year. The previous consultation focused on companies whose primary business involved Bitcoin or other digital-asset treasury activities and proposed excluding firms when digital assets represented at least 50% of total assets.

MSCI dropped that plan in January, saying digital-asset treasury companies would remain eligible while it studied the wider category of businesses whose activities appeared predominantly investment-oriented. Related Reading Will MicroStrategy survive reclassification as a Bitcoin investment vehicle? MSCI's potential reclassification of MicroStrategy as an investment vehicle could force massive passive fund sell-offs.

Market Impact

Nov 22, 2025 Oluwapelumi Adejumo The August proposal resulted from that broader review. Under the new methodology, a company first faces a core screen measuring operating assets as a percentage of total assets. A company with operating assets above 50% passes.

Those below that level move to a second stage consisting of five financial tests. Those tests examine operating assets, operating expenses, cash generation, exposure to fair-value movements, and dependence on external capital. For companies seeking inclusion, MSCI's proposed flags include operating assets below 20% of total assets, operating expenses below 5%, negative operating cash flow and non-operating fair-value changes above 5% of total assets.

The capital-dependence test would flag companies whose financing cash flow exceeds 20% of assets and whose filings show capital raising was used to accumulate assets. Triggering at least four of the five flags after failing the core screen would make a company ineligible for the index. Meanwhile, existing index constituents receive more room before deletion.

This shift continues to shape the digital-asset landscape, with analysts examining its near-term effects.