MSCI has finalized new rules for non-operating companies that could cost Strategy and Metaplanet their place in global equity indexes. On November 11, 2026, the index provider will announce which firms actually drop out.
MSCI calculates equity indexes that passive funds and ETFs track. When the provider adds or removes a stock, these funds consequently buy or sell automatically. Its Global Investable Market Indexes form the basis of the well-known MSCI World and ACWI families. In October 2025, MSCI originally proposed excluding firms with at least 50% of their balance sheet in digital assets. The plan would have hit 39 companies in total. In January 2026, however, the index provider dropped this plan and announced a broader consultation. That consultation ran from early August to late September 2026. Its documents included a simulation based on May 2026 data. It flagged Strategy, Metaplanet and UK uranium holder Yellow Cake as potential deletions. Strategy and Metaplanet are digital asset treasury companies, which hold cryptocurrencies as a core balance sheet position. Strategy holds 848,250 BTC, while Metaplanet holds around 44,000 BTC.
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Two stages decide whether a company stays in the index
MSCI published the consultation results on Thursday, October 15, 2026, after the US market close. Implementation follows later in the November index review. The framework works in two stages. First, a so-called Core Screen checks whether a company has material operating assets. If operating assets exceed 50% of total assets, the review ends there. A company that fails this test must instead measure up against five financial metrics.
A company is ineligible if it fails four of these five metrics. MSCI had already set this out in its consultation announcement of September 3, 2026. The metrics include Operating Asset Intensity, Expense Intensity and a cash flow screen covering operating cash flow. Two more follow: Non-Operating Fair Value Intensity and Capital Dependence, meaning reliance on external financing. The scope stands out. The rule covers non-operating companies together with passive investment vehicles such as funds and business development companies (BDCs). Crypto firms are thus only part of the group. Yellow Cake shows how broad it is. The UK company holds uranium rather than bitcoin and still appears in the simulation.
Meanwhile, MSCI is ending the interim rule tied to digital assets of 50% or more of total assets. Since January 2026, affected constituents could remain in the index. However, MSCI did not increase their share count or Inclusion Factor. New additions and segment migrations for these firms were likewise on hold. Going forward, the index provider will assess them like all other companies under the new methodology. As a result, the dividing line shifts from crypto exposure to a company's operating substance.
Buffers and deadlines push exclusion to December
The framework does not provide for an immediate exclusion. MSCI uses buffers that apply both to the metric thresholds and to the timing of additions and deletions. In this way, the provider aims to reduce turnover in its indexes. A new addition is ineligible if the company fails the criterion in either of its last two annual reporting periods. Yet MSCI only removes existing constituents if they fail in both periods. Furthermore, the index provider can draw on the latest interim financial statements. Firms already in the index therefore have more leeway than candidates.
The timeline is tight. On November 11, 2026, MSCI will publish the final list of affected companies. The changes take effect later, after the close on November 30, 2026, and thus from December 1, 2026. MSCI has not removed any firm so far, and decisions on individual names come only with the list. How wide the group will be also remains open. Besides Strategy and Metaplanet, the rule could also hit SharpLink, a company that holds Ethereum as its treasury reserve. In the May simulation, the firm appeared on a watch list, not among the deletions.
What the MSCI decision means for Strategy
For Strategy, the main issue is passive capital flows. The company has spent a cumulative total of around USD 64 billion on its bitcoin. In the week leading up to this cutoff, it bought another 250 BTC for USD 21.5 million. A filing with the SEC documents the purchase. Strategy estimates that MSCI-linked funds hold around 13 million MSTR shares, about 3.1% of outstanding basic shares. That equals around 60% of average daily volume over the last 30 days. The May 2026 deletions provide a benchmark. For the firms that left the MSCI World then, however, the figure was about two days of volume.
Older estimates put the risk in dollar terms. In 2025, JPMorgan projected potential outflows of up to USD 2.8 billion from MSCI-linked funds. If other index providers such as FTSE Russell followed suit, the bank put the figure at USD 8.8 billion. For all 39 firms on the earlier list, estimates of USD 10 to 15 billion in total forced selling circulated. Still, these figures relate to the old 50% rule. Whether they carry over to the new methodology is unclear. January 2026 showed how sensitive the market is. After MSCI dropped the first plan, MSTR shares rose about 6% in after-hours trading.
An exclusion would have limited consequences. The stock would remain listed on Nasdaq, and Strategy would not have to sell any bitcoin either. So the longer-term risk lies elsewhere. Weaker demand for the stock would make it harder to raise the capital behind the company's bitcoin purchases. Moreover, neither S&P Dow Jones nor FTSE Russell has so far confirmed whether it will follow with similar rules.
Strategy disputes the basis of the classification
Strategy had sharply criticized the consultation. In its response, the company called the proposal a pretext against digital asset treasuries. It saw the proposal as a rerun of the withdrawn 2025 plan. In addition, it argued the terms operating and non-operating are undefined and have no basis in US GAAP or IFRS. Strategy also reports its bitcoin business as an operating segment under US GAAP. According to the company, this aligns with discussions with SEC staff. Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le similarly called the rule discriminatory toward treasury firms.
In August 2026, the company summed up its position on X in a few words: "Digital assets are assets." Index providers should measure markets instead of deciding which assets companies may hold, it added. Finally, in September, Strategy stated that the rule would have no material impact on its own business if adopted. However, it would deeply damage MSCI's reputation as a reliable and neutral index provider.
