Corporate Bitcoin holders, Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) and Metaplanet (TYO:3350) are back on the MSCI exclusion watchlist after the index revived a proposal that would remove both firms from its stock benchmarks.
The consultations starting this month revive 2025 headaches for Strategy and Metaplanet, who could face forced selling from index-tracking funds if MSCI somehow resolves to exclude either or both of them from its Global Investable Market Indexes.
Is MSCI targeting Strategy and other reserve firms?
MSCI did not specifically mention crypto reserve firms or those who run digital asset treasuries (DATs) in the August 2026 consultation paper. However, it named Strategy and Metaplanet among the three firms that would definitely be deleted if the proposal passes. Sharplink was one of three firms that would be on the “Watchlist.”
Per MSCI, it is targeting firms that fall under its “non-operating companies” designation, which refers to businesses built around stockpiling valuable assets rather than earning cash from a working business.
UK-based Yellow Cake, a company that stockpiles uranium, was the third name facing potential exclusion. Meanwhile, Turkey’s Lydia Holdings and Taiwan’s Center Laboratories were the others on MSCI’s watchlist.
How did MSCI choose firms to exclude?
MSCI outlined the red flags that could land companies on delist watch.
- Firms whose operating assets make up more 50% of total assets advance to the next scrutiny level.
- Review of five financial ratios covering operating asset intensity, expense intensity, cash flow, fair-value changes and how much a company leans on outside financing to grow.
Firms that fail to clear at least four of those five hurdles will face MSCI exclusion.
Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which holds 840,447 BTC worth roughly $53.18 billion and a free-float market value of $23.93 billion, would have tripped all five ratios on its FY2025 filings.
Ethereum treasury firm Sharplink was placed on the public watchlist because it failed the screen only once. Two consecutive annual failures translate to exclusion.
What does MSCI exclusion mean for firms?
MSCI inclusion could be worth anywhere between $2 billion and $2.8 billion in inflows for firms that make the cut. Those that get left out could also face funds flowing in the opposite direction because funds that mirror MSCI benchmarks would have to dump shares they are no longer allowed to hold.
This is MSCI’s second run at the problem in under a year. An October 2025 consultation went straight at “digital asset treasury” firms, targeting any company with at least half its assets in crypto.
MSCI dropped the crypto-specific cutoff in February after investors questioned whether a plain asset test could tell an operating company apart from an investment vehicle. The new framework swaps that single threshold for the broader ratio-based screen, which is why it sweeps in a uranium holder alongside the Bitcoin firms.
Strategy has already argued its own case. In a December 2025 letter, the company insisted it runs an active enterprise, building Bitcoin-backed credit instruments and operating analytics software, rather than sitting on a static pile of coins.
Feedback closes September 30
Nothing is settled. MSCI is collecting comments from market participants through September 30, 2026, with a decision expected around October 16.
Any changes it does adopt would take effect at the November 2026 Index Review, and MSCI has stressed the consultation guarantees none of its proposals. For now, neither Strategy nor Metaplanet has been removed.
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This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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