Strategy and CEO Phong Le have sent a joint letter to MSCI, requesting the withdrawal of a proposed screening rule targeting "non-operating companies." The company disclosed that if this rule is implemented, it may lead to Strategy being removed from the MSCI Global Investable Markets Index System, and Metaplanet is also on the potential exclusion list.
The proposed rules involve six companies.
MSCI launched a public consultation in August to discuss whether to add screening criteria for issuers with operating assets accounting for less than half of their total assets. The proposal sets five test indicators, including the proportion of operating assets, expense structure, cash flow performance, fluctuations in fair value, and the degree of dependence on external financing.
If a company triggers four of these indicators, it will lose its qualification. For companies that are already in the index, they must fail to meet the standards for two consecutive annual reviews before they will be removed.
- Strategy, with a market value of approximately $23.93 billion after circulation adjustment
- Yellow Cake, approximately $1.81 billion
- Metaplanet, approximately $654 million
Another three companies will be placed on a public observation list, including the Ethereum treasury company SharpLink.
Strategy claims that the rules are targeted.
The company disclosed that Michael Saylor and Le described the proposal in their letter as "discriminatory, arbitrary, and misjudged." The two believe that this approach is essentially targeting digital asset treasury companies and is similar to the restriction of "holding more than 50% in crypto assets" that MSCI did not adopt in January of this year.
Strategy emphasized in the letter that it is actually the crypto treasury companies that are most affected. According to them, among the aforementioned six companies, only Strategy, Metaplanet, and SharpLink are related to crypto treasuries, while one company, Strategy, accounts for approximately 87% of the market value of these six companies after the relevant circulation adjustments.
Two executives also stated that even if it is removed, this change will have a limited impact on the business of Strategy itself, but it will damage the reputation of MSCI as a neutral index provider.
The company claims that two indicators should not be triggered.
The company disclosed that in its Q2 10-Q report submitted on August 3, Strategy classified its Bitcoin treasury business as a separate reportable segment and included changes in the fair value of Bitcoin in operating expenses.
Based on this accounting treatment, Strategy believes that it should not trigger the two warning indicators of 'expenses' and 'fair value fluctuations' specified in the proposed rules, and therefore should not be classified as an object to be excluded.
Strategy also requested at the end of the letter that MSCI take legal measures to preserve the documents related to the testing process. According to the schedule, this round of feedback collection will close on September 30th, and the results are expected to be announced on October 16th. If the rules are approved, they will take effect as early as during the index review in November.
Additional information:JPMorgan analysts estimated in November 2025 that if Strategy were removed by MSCI, it could lead to an outflow of approximately $2.8 billion in passive funds; if other index providers followed suit, the outflow could rise to $11.6 billion.
