Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Why MSCI Is Removing Strategy From Its Indexes
November 12, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Wealthtech Investing And Trading
Strategy still runs a software business, but Bitcoin now dominates its assets and capital raising. MSCI no longer treats that balance as an index eligible operating company.
November 11, 2026, MSCI confirmed Strategy’s removal from the MSCI USA and MSCI World indexes after the November 30 close under its new methodology for non operating companies. MSCI is one of the world’s largest index providers, and its benchmarks are followed by funds investing across global equity markets. Japan’s Metaplanet is also being removed from an MSCI index. MSCI has decided that Strategy no longer qualifies for its equity indexes because Bitcoin now dominates its assets and much of its capital raising. Strategy still sells software and reports operating revenue, but MSCI is drawing a line between a business that holds investment assets and one where those assets have become the main financial story.
Why Is MSCI Removing Strategy From Its Indexes?
MSCI first looked at a rule aimed specifically at digital asset treasury companies. It later dropped that proposal and change it's methodology to cover companies whose finances look more like investment vehicles. The final November 2026 methodology applies across sectors, not just to Bitcoin treasuries. If operating assets make up at least 50% of total assets, a company stays eligible under this part of the methodology. Below that level, MSCI applies five more tests covering operating assets, business expenses, operating cash flow, gains or losses from investment assets and dependence on outside financing.
Strategy was already an MSCI constituent, so it gets more generous thresholds than a company trying to enter an index. For the operating asset test, an existing constituent is flagged below 10% of total assets rather than below 20% for a non constituent. MSCI also requires an existing member to fail the overall screen in both of its two most recent annual reporting periods before removal.
They need operating assets equal to at least 10% of total assets, business expenses of at least 5% and positive operating cash flow. MSCI also looks at how much investment gains or losses dominate the business and how much outside capital is being raised to accumulate assets. Failing four of the five tests can make a company ineligible.
Strategy’s latest SEC filing says about 99% of total assets relate to its Bitcoin segment, while the software business generated $125.4 million of revenue in Q3 and $372.1 million through the first nine months of 2026. Strategy still has customers, employees and recurring software revenue, but Bitcoin has become so large relative to the rest of the company that MSCI no longer treats the shares like those of a conventional operating business. The rule also reaches beyond crypto. MSCI’s November deletions include Yellow Cake, whose business centres on uranium holdings. That shows MSCI is looking at how much of a company still comes from its operating business, not simply which investment asset it owns.
How Does Strategy Fund Its Bitcoin Purchases?
Strategy held 850,364 Bitcoin as of November 8, acquired for $64.16 billion at an average cost of $75,456 per Bitcoin. That position was not built from software profits. Strategy has repeatedly sold common shares, preferred shares and debt, then used much of the proceeds to buy Bitcoin. During the first nine months of 2026, it used $14.26 billion of securities proceeds to purchase Bitcoin. At September 30, it still had substantial common stock issuance capacity along with large preferred stock programs.
That is why the share price is so important to the model. If investors value Strategy well above the value of its Bitcoin holdings, issuing common stock can raise attractive amounts of new capital, which can then be used to buy more Bitcoin. Strategy’s own dashboard showed an mNAV of about 1.08 times in early November. The company defines mNAV as enterprise value divided by the value of its Bitcoin holdings and warns that it is not traditional net asset value. Strategy’s Q3 filing also says a lower premium reduced its Bitcoin yield during the quarter. In plain terms, common equity becomes less useful for buying more Bitcoin when investors stop paying as much above the value of the underlying holdings.
Most recently, Strategy raised about $283.8 million from common stock sales in the week ending November 8. It used $81.9 million to buy 1,036 Bitcoin, $188.3 million to repurchase STRC preferred stock and $13.6 million for cash. That means the capital raised through common equity now has more than one job. Some still goes to Bitcoin, while some supports preferred securities and cash needs, reducing how much new equity can be directed straight back into Bitcoin purchases.
What Does MSCI Removal Actually Change For Strategy?
MSCI is changing how the shares are treated inside its indexes. Funds that closely track affected MSCI benchmarks will need to adjust their holdings after November 30, while active investors can still own the stock. Strategy remains listed on Nasdaq and is still part of the Nasdaq 100 as of November 2026.
Strategy says MSCI linked funds hold about 13 million MSTR shares, equal to 3.1% of basic shares outstanding. The company says this represents less than one normal trading day and “would not meaningfully affect Strategy.” Reuters reports that Strategy previously warned of about $2.8 billion in selling tied to MSCI exclusion. J.P. Morgan estimated potential outflows of up to $8.8 billion if other major index providers also exclude Strategy. That second number depends on other providers following MSCI and is not confirmed selling.
See: BlackRock IBQT Adds Bitcoin To Canadian ETF Portfolios
MSCI cannot decide what Nasdaq, S&P Dow Jones, FTSE Russell, STOXX or CRSP will do, and none has announced the same action. For Strategy, the main risk is that weaker demand for its shares could reduce the premium investors pay over the value of its Bitcoin. If that premium falls far enough, raising new common equity to buy more Bitcoin becomes less attractive. MSCI is not forcing Strategy to sell Bitcoin. It is making one part of its financing model less supportive.
What Should Bitcoin Treasury Companies Watch?
If you run a company with a large Bitcoin treasury, the key question is how big that treasury becomes compared with the operating business. Bitcoin Treasury Corp Files Preliminary $300M Prospectus describes a TSXV company that combines Bitcoin accumulation with Bitcoin lending and institutional services. That gives investors exposure to both Bitcoin and an operating business, rather than a company whose value depends mostly on the Bitcoin it holds.
MSCI’s decision shows why that balance can affect index eligibility. A company can stay listed and keep running its business, but still be removed from an index if its operating assets, cash flow and revenue become too small compared with its investment holdings and financing. Bitcoin treasury companies therefore need to watch more than how much Bitcoin they own and what they paid for it. Operating assets, cash flow and dependence on outside financing can also affect whether index providers continue to treat the stock like an operating company.
Talking Point
If your company is raising more and more capital to buy investment assets, you eventually have to ask what investors are really buying. Is it the operating business, the treasury, or a financing structure that gives them exposure to both? Strategy can keep buying Bitcoin after MSCI removes it, but one source of automatic demand for the shares is going away. If raising capital to accumulate assets becomes more important than selling products or services, index providers may start treating the stock differently even when the company itself has not changed legally.
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