MSCI is proposing to remove Strategy, Metaplanet, and Yellow Cake from its global equity indexes. The screen that catches them contains no reference to digital assets.
The index provider withdrew a digital-asset-specific rule in January after Strategy called it discriminatory. The replacement uses five industry-neutral ratios and reaches the same companies.
Strategy would be removed from MSCI’s global equity indexes under a proposal the index provider put out for consultation in August, seven months after it dropped a separate rule that would have done the same thing.
Three Deletions, Three on a Watchlist
Applying the proposed screen to the MSCI ACWI IMI Index as of May 2026 produces three deletions, according to the consultation document. Strategy is the largest at $23.93 billion, followed by London-listed uranium holder Yellow Cake at $1.81 billion and Japan’s Metaplanet at $654 million.
Those figures are free float-adjusted market capitalization, the measure MSCI uses to weight companies inside its indexes rather than total market value.
Three further companies would be placed on a proposed public watchlist: Taiwan’s Center Laboratories at $673 million, Turkey’s Lydia Holding at $319 million, and SharpLink at $165 million. Watchlisted companies would be removed only if they failed the screen again the following year.
Index deletion matters because funds are tracked by an index buy and sell to match its membership. A company’s removal obliges those funds to sell, regardless of their view of the business.
Screen Applies Five Ratios After an Asset Test
The proposal works in two steps. A company clears the first if operating assets exceed 50% of total assets. Companies that fail are measured against five ratios: operating asset intensity, expense intensity, operating cash flow, fair value intensity, and capital dependence.
Flags trigger where operating assets fall below 20% of total assets, operating expenses fall below 5% of total assets, operating cash flow is negative, non-operating fair value changes exceed 5% of total assets, half of net sales plus fair value changes, and financing cash flow exceeds 20% of total assets alongside filings showing capital raising for asset accumulation. Four flags out of five make a company ineligible.
MSCI describes the characteristics it is targeting as creating value by accumulating and holding non-operating assets, spending and generating little cash from running a business, performance driven by market movements, and reliance on external capital rather than operations to grow.
Existing Index Members Face Easier Thresholds
Companies already in the index are treated differently from those outside it. A non-constituent is ineligible on a single filing. A current constituent must fail on two consecutive annual filings and is measured against looser thresholds—operating assets below 10% rather than 20%, and financing cash flow above 30% rather than 20%.
MSCI states the asymmetry is intended to protect index stability and reduce turnover so that only a sustained change in business structure triggers reclassification.
MSCI Withdrew a Digital Asset Rule in January
MSCI opened a consultation in October 2025 on whether to exclude digital asset treasury companies, which it defined as those holding 50% or more of total assets in digital assets. A preliminary list circulated during that process identified dozens of companies, including Strategy, SharpLink, and mining firms. JPMorgan analysts wrote in November that Strategy was a candidate for index removal.
Strategy submitted a formal response on December 10 signed by executive chairman Michael Saylor and chief executive Phong Le. It argued that digital asset treasury companies are operating businesses rather than passive investment funds, that the 50% threshold was arbitrary, discriminatory, and unworkable, and that price volatility and differences between GAAP and IFRS accounting could move companies on and off indexes. The letter noted that oil majors, REITs, timber companies, and media groups are also concentrated in a single asset type without being classified as funds.
Strategy was not alone. Strive wrote to MSCI on December 6 urging it to keep benchmarks neutral and offer optional ex-digital-asset-treasury indexes instead. Bitwise called the proposal fundamentally flawed on December 12, arguing indexes should reflect market composition rather than assess business models.
MSCI announced on January 6 that it would not proceed. It said feedback had shown investor concern that some digital asset treasury companies share characteristics with investment funds, and that separating investment companies from companies holding non-operating assets as part of core operations required further research and consultation. Strategy posted that the outcome was “a strong outcome for neutral indexing and economic reality.”
The current proposal contains no digital asset threshold. MSCI describes the five ratios as non-industry-specific.
Screen Also Reaches Uranium and Pharmaceutical Holdings
Yellow Cake, the second-largest company on the deletion list, holds physical uranium rather than digital assets. Center Laboratories is a Taiwanese pharmaceutical company, and Lydia Holding is a Turkish holding company.
Metaplanet held 43,000 BTC as of August 13, when it launched a bond issuance program to convert treasury value into fixed-rate funding.
SharpLink reported a second-quarter net loss of $394.3 million, composed of a $321.0 million unrealized loss on ETH held at fair value and a $76.1 million impairment on staked-ETH tokens, which The Crypto Times reported on August 10. Two of MSCI’s five proposed ratios measure non-operating fair value changes and operating cash flow. MSCI does not disclose which ratios each company failed.
Strategy Has Sold Bitcoin This Year
Strategy has sold 6,948 BTC year to date, which The Crypto Times covered on August 10. Its chief executive Phong Le said on August 12 that the company intends to resume Bitcoin purchases before year-end.
Institutional filings over the two weeks to August 12 showed a net increase of $180 million in reported MSTR holdings.
Feedback Closes September 30
MSCI is accepting feedback through September 30 and expects to announce results on or before October 16. Any resulting changes are proposed for implementation in the November 2026 Index Review. The document states the consultation may or may not lead to implementation of any or all of the proposed changes and that feedback will remain confidential unless a participant requests publication.
The Crypto Times contacted Strategy for comment at 7:30 am UTC, and will update this report once it receives a response.
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