MSCI drops Strategy from its indexes in blow to bitcoin-treasury model
MSCI will remove Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, from its global indexes after the November 30 close, forcing index funds to sell and testing the company's bitcoin-buying model.
The removal becomes official
MSCI will remove Strategy, the world's largest corporate holder of bitcoin, from its global equity indexes after the close on November 30, the index provider confirmed in its November review. The change covers the MSCI USA Index and the MSCI World and ACWI indexes built on it.
The removal follows a new rule for what MSCI calls non-operating companies, adopted on October 15. Firms without substantial operating assets now count as non-operating and are ineligible for MSCI's global indexes. Japan's Metaplanet, another bitcoin treasury firm, was also removed from the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index.
The market reaction
Strategy shares slid more than 7% to below $114 early on Thursday, their lowest level since August 20, according to Investor's Business Daily. Bitcoin fell about 2% to $72,848 on Thursday, while ether dropped 2.2% to $2,022.83, Dow Jones reported via Morningstar.
United States spot bitcoin funds recorded single-day outflows of almost $300 million on November 11, a sign of sluggish institutional demand, according to crypto trading firm Bitget. The iShares Bitcoin Trust fell 4.5%, while the gold-tracking SPDR Gold Shares dropped 2.9% on another strong day for the United States dollar.
- Shares held by MSCI-tracking funds13 million
- Share of basic shares outstanding3.1%
- Strategy's market value$50 billion
- Held by passive index funds$8.8 billion
- Thursday's slide7%
How much selling?
The forced selling looks manageable on Strategy's own numbers. The company said funds tracking MSCI indexes hold about 13 million of its shares, or 3.1% of its basic shares outstanding, less than one day's typical trading volume.
JPMorgan estimated in November 2025 that roughly $8.8 billion of Strategy's $50 billion market value was held by passive funds tracking the Nasdaq 100, MSCI, Russell and CRSP indexes, and that other index operators could review Strategy's inclusion if MSCI removed it. The Nasdaq 100 holds its annual reconstitution in December, and there is no indication that a review of Strategy's place in it is on the table. Nasdaq added Strategy to the Nasdaq 100 in late 2024.
What to watch on November 30
Strategy has rejected MSCI's view that it is not an operating company. The company calls itself the first digital credit company, saying the preferred stock it issues to finance bitcoin purchases, paying a 12% dividend, is its main product rather than a vehicle for raising cash.
In a December 2025 letter to MSCI's index committee, executive chairman Michael Saylor and chief executive Phong Le argued that Strategy was an operating company selling digital credit instruments. Morningstar noted that other index providers could follow MSCI with their own rulings, which would put Strategy's shares under further selling pressure. The decision concerns index membership: Strategy's shares continue to trade, and the rebalance on November 30 will show how much selling actually arrives.
