MSCI will stop handling crypto treasury companies under a separate set of rules. The index provider announced on Oct. 15 that it is adopting, “with minor modifications,” the framework it proposed in August for barring so-called non-operating companies from its Global Investable Market Indexes, and that it will end the interim measures it had applied to companies whose digital asset holdings made up 50% or more of their total assets.
The change takes effect with the November 2026 Index Review, as of the close of Nov. 30. MSCI’s announcement does not name any company. It said the current constituents that could be affected are posted on its consultations page, with a final list to follow on Nov. 11.
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How the Screen Works
Funds, business development companies and other passive vehicles are already barred from the indexes. The new rule extends that treatment to corporate issuers that look like them on paper. A company first faces a core test of whether it holds substantial operating assets. If it fails, MSCI checks five financial ratios that are not specific to any industry, and a company flagged on at least four of them becomes ineligible.
Existing members get more room. A current constituent is removed only after failing the screen in each of its two latest annual filing periods, while a company outside the index is kept out if it fails in either one. MSCI said it may also use a company’s most recent interim filing.
Strategy in the August Test
In its August consultation paper, MSCI ran the proposed screen on its ACWI IMI index using May 2026 data. Three companies came out as deletions: Strategy, Yellow Cake and Metaplanet.
MSCI’s current list of potentially affected securities, which uses financial data as of Sept. 30, 2026, still puts all three in line for deletion at the November review. It adds two more, Iceland’s Skel Fjarfestingafelag and Upexi. SharpLink sits among 17 companies on a watchlist that also includes SUI Group Holdings, TON Strategy and Solana Company.
The interim measures MSCI is ending were announced Oct. 10, 2025. They froze increases to the affected stocks’ share counts and inclusion factors and put additions and size-segment moves on hold. MSCI said every such company will now be judged under the new methodology instead.
Unchained reported in January that MSCI had put off a ruling on whether to exclude treasury companies such as Strategy. A December Unchained podcast had discussed what an MSCI exclusion could mean for the company.
Current members are removed only after failing the screen in two straight annual filing periods, and MSCI’s current list already shows Strategy and Metaplanet as potential deletions at the November review. The final list is due Nov. 11.
Related Listen: Is Strategy’s Model Unraveling? What Is Driving the Recent Rout and Where It Can Go From Here
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