MSCI May Remove Strategy and Metaplanet From Its Indexes Over Bitcoin Holdings

Index provider MSCI has opened a new consultation that could remove Strategy and Metaplanet from its global stock indexes over their bitcoin holdings. Companies whose assets are mostly unrelated to an operating business will have to pass a new financial test, and three public firms already land on the removal list.

What the new MSCI consultation changes

MSCI, whose indexes track trillions of dollars through passive funds, published a draft rule for so-called "non-operating companies." The category covers firms that build value mainly by accumulating assets rather than selling goods or services, and that description fits the largest public holders of Bitcoin.

The index in question is the MSCI ACWI IMI, one of the broadest global equity benchmarks, tracked by dozens of passive funds and ETFs worldwide. A company dropped from that index instantly loses demand from investors who simply mirror its makeup rather than evaluate each holding on its own.

Applying the new screen to May 2026 data, MSCI arrived at a list of three candidates for removal. The list includes Strategy, Japan's Metaplanet, and uranium holder Yellow Cake. Strategy has accumulated 840,447 BTC worth roughly $53.18 billion and remains the largest corporate bitcoin holder in the world. Tokyo-listed Metaplanet holds more than 43,000 BTC worth over $2 billion.

Yellow Cake's presence on the list shows that MSCI's new rule formally applies to any asset, not just digital ones. In practice, though, most candidates for removal still end up being bitcoin holders, since that asset has posted the sharpest price gains in recent years and drew companies willing to restructure their balance sheets around it.

This is MSCI's second attempt at bitcoin treasury firms. An earlier consultation, opened in October 2025, directly named digital assets as the criterion and targeted 39 companies whose crypto holdings exceeded 50% of their balance sheet. That proposal triggered a sharp drop in the shares of those firms and was ultimately shelved without a vote.

How the new two-step screen works

MSCI's method runs in two steps. The first checks a core threshold. If a company's operating assets exceed 50% of its total assets, no further review is needed and the firm stays in the index.

If that threshold is missed, the company is judged on five financial ratios in a second step. It becomes ineligible for the index once it fails at least four of the five measures.

• The point: Each of the five ratios checks a different angle of how real a company's business actually is.
• Operating asset intensity shows how much of the balance sheet is a genuine business.
• Expense intensity checks whether a company runs a real operating activity.
• Cash flow measures how much cash the business itself generates, apart from asset revaluations.
• Capital dependence tracks how much a company relies on issuing stock or debt to fund itself.

Companies not yet in the index will be judged against stricter thresholds, based on their latest filed report.

Why Strategy and Metaplanet are at risk

Strategy earns revenue from selling enterprise software, but the bulk of the company's value has long rested on its balance of Bitcoin. Metaplanet fits a similar pattern. The Japanese firm shifted from a hotel business into accumulating crypto assets, and the market now prices it mostly through the lens of its reserves. These are exactly the profiles MSCI describes as companies that earn money from holding non-operating assets while barely relying on their own operations.

Strategy shares (MSTR) fell 4.3% on Friday as the news broke and bitcoin dropped to $62,600. The market priced in the risk right away. Removal from the MSCI ACWI IMI would trigger automatic selling by passive funds that simply mirror the index.

How Strategy responded to the proposal

The company pushed back with a public statement on X, arguing that index providers should not decide which assets public companies are allowed to hold.

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

- Strategy, official post on X, August 14, 2026

The statement added that the proposal repeats the problems of the October 2025 draft and puts the company at odds with regulators and its own customers. This marks Strategy's second formal objection to MSCI's approach. The company filed its first response back in December 2025, arguing that it runs an operating business with a software unit and bitcoin-backed credit instruments, not a passive fund. The statement added that neither bitcoin nor Strategy itself depends on recognition from MSCI, hinting that the company would rather leave the indexes than change its balance sheet.

Decision timeline and the impact on index funds

MSCI is taking feedback from market participants through September 30, 2026, and plans to announce the consultation's results roughly two weeks later. Even if the proposal is adopted, any changes would take effect no earlier than the November 2026 index review.

For markets, this means months of uncertainty. Funds tracking MSCI indexes are not required to sell anything yet, but the mere threat of removal is already pressuring Strategy and Metaplanet shares. ETFs and pension funds that automatically mirror the MSCI ACWI IMI would feel the impact most. A revised list would force them to sell Strategy and Metaplanet shares regardless of their own view on bitcoin's prospects. Amid that volatility, some Ukrainian traders are choosing to exchange Bitcoin for hryvnia before prices drop further rather than wait for MSCI's final decision in October.