MSCI’s new rules could squeeze Strategy’s Bitcoin buying machine

MSCI approved rules threatening Strategy's index membership as its shares trade nearly 69% below their peak.

On Oct. 15, the global index provider announced that it would adopt a new methodology excluding companies classified as non-operating businesses from its Global Investable Market Indexes. The changes take effect after the Nov. 30 market close, with the final list of affected companies scheduled for Nov. 11.

The decision puts Michael Saylor's Bitcoin treasury company at risk of losing access to billions of dollars in index-linked investment at a time when its stock has suffered one of its deepest declines since it adopted Bitcoin as its primary treasury asset in 2020.

MSCI had already identified Strategy, Japan's Metaplanet and uranium investment company Yellow Cake for potential deletion in an August simulation using May financial data. Ethereum treasury company SharpLink was also among three firms placed on a proposed watchlist.

MSCI will first assess whether a company has substantial operating assets. Companies that fail this initial screen will face five financial-ratio tests; being flagged on at least four makes them ineligible. Existing constituents must fail the eligibility screen in both of their two most recent annual filing periods before removal. MSCI may also use the most recent interim filing.

The framework replaces interim restrictions targeting companies whose digital assets represented at least 50% of their total assets. MSCI had abandoned an earlier outright exclusion proposal in January before expanding its review to businesses whose activities resemble investment vehicles.

For Strategy, the decision revives a threat that executives had spent months challenging. In September, the company argued that excluding Bitcoin treasury businesses would undermine MSCI's neutrality and impose an arbitrary distinction between operating companies and investment vehicles.

A chart shared by market commentator Mark Harvey, based on Yahoo Finance daily closing prices, puts MSTR 68.7% below its running high over the period shown. It also shows a drawdown exceeding 80% earlier in 2026 and a previous low of 89.3% below the running high.

Harvey described the depressed valuation as a generational buying opportunity, reflecting expectations that the company's long-term Bitcoin exposure could outweigh its current difficulties.