Shares of Strategy, Michael Saylor's Bitcoin treasury company, fell 6.49% on Thursday, closing at $114.41, a day after MSCI confirmed the company's removal from its global equity indexes.
MSCI announced Wednesday that Strategy would be removed from its global equity indexes following the Nov. 30 market close. JPMorgan previously estimated that the exclusion could trigger approximately $2.8 billion in selling pressure from funds tracking the benchmarks.
Strategy argued in an August 31 response to MSCI's proposed rules that the changes targeted digital asset treasury companies and downplayed potential financial impact, noting that MSCI-linked funds held approximately 13 million of its shares, representing 3.1% of its basic shares outstanding.
Ryan Kirkley, CEO of Global Settlement Network, told Cointelegraph that MSCI's decision distinguishes Bitcoin treasury companies from traditional operating businesses and limits indirect cryptocurrency exposure for passive investors. He noted that index inclusion had exposed ordinary passive investors, including those holding global index funds in pension accounts, to leveraged Bitcoin exposure they did not choose.
Kirkley stated that MSCI's move reflects institutional finance consensus that buying and holding an asset does not constitute an operating business, but rather functions as a fund not subject to fund regulations.
The stock decline occurred alongside a broader cryptocurrency market sell-off. Bitcoin traded near $71,340 as of Thursday 4:08 p.m. ET, down 4.3% over the previous 24 hours. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization declined 3% to approximately $2.49 trillion.
