MSCI Adopts Index Exclusion Rules That Could Push Strategy Out of Its Global Indexes

Published October 16, 2026, 09:45 PKT. Based on MSCI's October 15, 2026 announcement "MSCI Announces Results of the Consultation on the Eligibility of Non-Operating Companies in the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes", and coverage from Cointelegraph, Altcoin Buzz, Foresight News, Wisevoter, BigGo Finance and crypto.jobs.

MSCI will adopt new rules that could remove Strategy, Metaplanet and other crypto treasury companies from its global stock indexes, the index provider announced on October 15, 2026. The decision, published in MSCI's standard announcements at 8:48 PM GMT, formalizes the methodology proposed in its August 3, 2026 consultation: companies classified as "non-operating companies" will become ineligible for inclusion in the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes. The changes take effect at the close of November 30, 2026, as part of the November 2026 Index Review, according to the announcement.

The two screens that decide who stays in the index

Under the new methodology, MSCI will run issuers through two screens. The first is a core screen that asks whether a company holds substantial operating assets. Companies that fail it face a second screen built on five financial ratios covering operating asset intensity, expense intensity, operating cash flow, fair value intensity and dependence on external capital. Companies that fail at least four of the five tests can be ruled ineligible, Cointelegraph reported. The framework is presented as asset-agnostic: it targets corporate issuers that resemble investment funds, business development companies and other passive investment vehicles rather than operating businesses, the announcement said. MSCI also said it will drop the temporary measures it had been applying to companies whose digital asset holdings exceed 50% of total assets, including limits on secondary offerings and freezes on upward adjustments to inclusion factors, Foresight News reported.

Strategy, Metaplanet and Yellow Cake sit on the deletion line

MSCI has already named the companies its own simulation flagged under the methodology. Cointelegraph reported that Strategy (MSTR) was identified among the companies that would be deleted from the indexes, with Metaplanet and Upexi also potentially facing removal. Applied to the MSCI ACWI IMI as of May 2026, the simulation produced three deletions: Strategy, listed as a U.S. large-cap constituent with a free-float market cap of $23,931 million; Yellow Cake Plc, a U.K. small cap at $1,807 million; and Japan's Metaplanet at $654 million, Altcoin Buzz reported, citing MSCI's consultation document. Strategy is the largest of the three by a wide margin and holds 848,250 bitcoin, according to Cointelegraph. The company's shares fell more than 1% to $149 in overnight trading after the news, Wisevoter reported.

The watchlist: Sharplink, Ton Strategy Company and Solana Company

Several other crypto treasury names landed on a public watchlist instead of the deletion list. Cointelegraph reported that Sharplink, Inc (SBET), Ton Strategy Company (TONX), Solana Company (HSDT) and DeFi Development Corp. (DFDV) were flagged for potential removal and placed on the watchlist. MSCI published a provisional list based on financial information as of September 30, with Metaplanet included, BigGo Finance reported. Existing index constituents get a grace period: MSCI generally requires companies already in the index to fail the screening over two annual reporting periods before removal, Cointelegraph reported. The final list of companies to be removed will be released on November 11 and takes effect on November 30, 2026.

The $2.8 billion forced-selling question

Removal from MSCI's indexes would force index-tracking funds to sell the affected shares, potentially pressuring prices and reducing passive investment demand, Cointelegraph reported. JPMorgan analysts previously estimated that Strategy's exclusion from MSCI indexes could trigger roughly $2.8 billion in selling, though Cointelegraph noted that estimate was made under MSCI's earlier proposal to target digital asset treasury companies directly, rather than the non-operating-company rules adopted on Thursday. Conner Brown, executive director of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, described the stakes in September: "It removes a company from the default portfolios of tens of millions of people who never chose to remove it," according to Cointelegraph. The rule's history shows how the target was reframed: MSCI first tried to exclude companies holding more than half their assets in digital currencies in late 2025, dropped that plan in January 2026 after industry pushback, and returned in August with the broader non-operating-company methodology, crypto.jobs reported.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• MSCI, "MSCI Announces Results of the Consultation on the Eligibility of Non-Operating Companies in the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes", October 15, 2026, primary source for the adoption of the non-operating-company methodology, the August 3, 2026 consultation reference, the November 30, 2026 effective date as part of the November 2026 Index Review, and the targeting of corporate issuers with passive-vehicle characteristics identified through quantitative screens
• Cointelegraph, "MSCI Adopts Rules That Could Exclude Strategy", October 16, 2026, secondary source for Strategy, Metaplanet and Upexi as likely deletions, the Sharplink/Ton Strategy Company/Solana Company/DeFi Development Corp watchlist, the five-ratio screen and two-reporting-period grace period, the November 11 final list date, the JPMorgan $2.8 billion estimate and its caveat, the Conner Brown quote, and the 848,250 BTC holdings figure
• Altcoin Buzz, "MSCI Decision on Strategy's Index Eligibility Due October 16", October 15, 2026, secondary source for the May 2026 simulation results (Strategy at $23,931 million free-float market cap, Yellow Cake at $1,807 million, Metaplanet at $654 million) and the two-screen structure with its thresholds
• Foresight News via KuCoin, "MSCI to Exclude Non-Operational Companies from Global Indexes Starting in 2026", October 16, 2026, secondary source for the discontinuation of temporary measures on companies with digital asset holdings above 50% of total assets
• Wisevoter, "MSCI Introduces New Criteria For Index Exclusions", October 16, 2026, secondary source for Strategy's share price reaction, down more than 1% to $149 in overnight trading
• crypto.jobs, "MSCI's Index Rule Changes Threaten Corporate Crypto Adoption and Web3 Industry Jobs", October 16, 2026, secondary source for the rule's history: the late-2025 digital-asset-targeting proposal, its January 2026 withdrawal after pushback, and the August 2026 return as a non-operating-company methodology
• BigGo Finance, "MSCI Adopts Non-Operating Company Exclusion Rule, Impacting Metaplanet and Strategy", October 16, 2026, secondary source for the provisional list based on September 30 financial information, with Metaplanet included