Global index provider MSCI Inc. has adopted a new methodology that makes certain “non-operating companies” ineligible for its global equity benchmarks, placing Bitcoin treasury firms Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) and Japan’s Metaplanet (TSE: 3350) at risk of removal. The rules take effect with the November 2026 Index Review, and MSCI is expected to name the affected companies on November 11, 2026.
MSCI, originally known as Morgan Stanley Capital International, announced the decision on Thursday, October 15, 2026. It said it would implement, with minor modifications, the proposal set out in the consultation it launched on August 3, 2026. The changes will apply as of the close of November 30, 2026, according to Bloomberg.
How MSCI’s Non-Operating Company Screen Works
The rules apply to the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes (GIMI), the index family behind widely tracked benchmarks such as the MSCI World Index. GIMI already excludes investment funds and business development companies (BDCs), which are firms that invest in and lend to small and mid-sized businesses. The new methodology extends that exclusion to corporate issuers that MSCI considers to share similar characteristics.
According to MSCI’s consultation document, the test works in two steps. A company first faces a core screen that checks whether its balance sheet holds substantial operating assets. Companies that fail then face five financial ratios: operating asset intensity, expense intensity, operating cash flow, non-operating fair value intensity and capital dependence. A company flagged on four or more of the five becomes ineligible. The proposal set looser cutoffs for current index members than for new candidates.
MSCI also added timing buffers to limit index turnover. Current constituents will be removed only if they fail the screen in each of their two most recent annual filing periods. Companies outside the index will be blocked from addition if they fail in either of those periods. MSCI said it may also consider the most recent interim filing where available.
The new methodology replaces the temporary measures MSCI adopted after it shelved its digital asset treasury company proposal on January 6, 2026. Those measures applied to companies whose digital assets made up 50% or more of total assets and froze increases to their share counts and inclusion factors, which determine how much of a company’s stock MSCI counts in its indexes.
Strategy and Metaplanet Flagged in MSCI Simulation
MSCI’s May 2026 simulation on the MSCI ACWI Investable Market Index (ACWI IMI), where ACWI stands for All Country World Index, produced three deletions: Strategy, Metaplanet and Yellow Cake, a London-listed uranium investment company. Ethereum treasury firm SharpLink was among three companies placed on a proposed public watchlist, The Crypto Times reported in August.
MSCI did not name individual companies in its decision. It instead directed market participants to a list of current index constituents potentially impacted by the screen, published on its index consultations page.
Strategy, the largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC), reported holding 848,250 BTC in its October 12 update. Metaplanet reported 44,000 BTC as of September 30, 2026.
How Much Selling Could Index Removal Trigger?
JPMorgan Chase analysts estimated in late 2025, while MSCI was weighing its earlier digital asset proposal, that removing Strategy could prompt about $2.8 billion in passive outflows, rising to roughly $8.8 billion if other index providers adopted similar rules.
Strategy disputes the scale of the impact. The company says funds tracking MSCI GIMI indexes hold about 13 million of its shares, or 3.1% of its basic shares outstanding, an amount it describes as less than one day of average MSTR trading volume.
Any selling would come from index-tracking funds rebalancing their portfolios, not from Strategy or Metaplanet selling Bitcoin. Because of the two-period buffer for existing constituents, removal on November 30 is not automatic.
Strategy Has Opposed the Framework
In an August 31 letter to MSCI, Strategy asked the index provider to withdraw the proposal. The company argued that the terms “operating” and “non-operating” have no basis in U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and said it reports its Bitcoin business as an operating segment. The Crypto Times detailed how a single accounting classification could decide whether Strategy passes the expense test.
Strategy CEO Phong Le later described the proposal as discriminatory, arbitrary, and misguided in a Bloomberg interview. The Bitcoin Policy Institute, a Bitcoin-focused think tank, also questioned MSCI’s process in a paper published on September 30.
What Happens Next
MSCI is expected to publish the definitive list of affected companies on November 11, 2026, with implementation after the close of trading on November 30. MSCI has framed the rules as industry-neutral. For Strategy, Metaplanet and other Bitcoin treasury companies, the outcome will determine whether they keep access to the passive capital that tracks MSCI’s global benchmarks.
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