Morgan Stanley Capital International announced Thursday that it will implement a proposal to define and classify non-operating companies as ineligible for inclusion in the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes.
The index maker said the changes will take effect as part of the November 2026 Index Review, with implementation as of the close of November 30, 2026. The decision stems from a consultation announced on August 3, 2026, with minor modifications.
MSCI's 2025 proposal would exclude from its indices all companies whose digital-asset holdings represent 50% or more of total assets. The new implementation won't immediately remove Strategy from the indexes, but future tests could result in exclusion.
Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, is an enterprise software company that pivoted to buying and holding bitcoin in 2020. The company has aggressively accumulated the asset and is now the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, with 848,250 bitcoins valued at $69.2 billion at current prices.
Investors use Strategy's Nasdaq-listed stock, trading under ticker MSTR, to gain exposure to bitcoin's price performance. Shares fell over 6% on Friday following the announcement.
Strategy had previously criticized the proposal in August, calling it "misguided" and "flawed," stating that "Bitcoin doesn't need MSCI. Neither does Strategy." The company did not immediately comment on Thursday's decision.
If Strategy is removed from MSCI's Global Investable Market Indexes, fewer institutional investors would be able or willing to hold the stock.
