MSCI will treat certain non-operating companies as ineligible for its Global Investable Market Indexes, the index provider said in a 15 October announcement timed at 20:48 GMT. The change takes effect with the November 2026 Index Review, as of the close of 30 November. CryptoWatchDesk last covered Strategy on 13 October, when it disclosed a 250 bitcoin purchase, and last covered Metaplanet on 14 October after its ToSTNeT-3 results — Strategy’s latest treasury update; Metaplanet’s ToSTNeT-3 results.
The methodology story matters more than any single name. MSCI is replacing the interim measures it announced on 10 October 2025 for companies whose digital-asset holdings were 50% or more of total assets — a freeze on share-count and inclusion-factor increases, and a deferral of additions and size-segment migrations — with a broader non-operating-company test that will apply to all such issuers from the November review.
Under the new screens, MSCI first checks whether an issuer has substantial operating assets. Issuers that fail that core screen face an exclusion screen of five financial ratios; a security is ineligible if it is flagged on four or more of the five. To cut turnover, buffers apply: non-constituents stay out if they fail the ineligibility screen in either of their two most recent annual filing periods, while current constituents are removed only if they fail in each of the two most recent periods. MSCI may also use the most recent interim filing.
A list of current constituents that could be affected is already posted on MSCI’s index consultations page. The final list is due on 11 November with the November review announcement. The Block, citing a May 2026 MSCI simulation, named Strategy, Metaplanet and Yellow Cake among firms flagged under the earlier proposal and said ether treasury firm SharpLink could also be in scope. Bloomberg separately reported that the decision moves Strategy toward a possible index exit without an immediate removal. Strategy’s September letter, as quoted by The Block, said the proposal would have “no meaningful impact” on its business but would “profoundly harm” MSCI’s reputation as a neutral index provider — a claim from the company, not a finding by MSCI.
Nothing in the announcement removes Strategy, Metaplanet or any other named treasury stock on sight. What it does is set the paperwork path: two failed filing windows for current constituents, a published shortlist on 11 November, and the end of the old 50% digital-asset interim rules at the same November review. How that shortlist lands will matter more for passive flows than for the next bitcoin print. For a recent filing that went the other way — an issuer pulling a product rather than defending index status — see VanEck’s withdrawn stETH ETF filing.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.