Bitcoin For Corporations (BFC), in coordination with its member companies, formally challenged MSCI’s proposed rule to exclude companies from the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes if digital assets represent 50% or more of total assets.
The rule would apply to companies whose primary business is classified as digital-asset treasury activity.
BFC argues the proposal misclassifies operating companies by prioritizing balance-sheet holdings over actual business operations.
“MSCI has long defined companies by what they do, not by what they hold. This proposal abandons that principle for a single asset class,” said George Mekhail, managing director of BFC. “A shareholder-approved treasury decision shouldn’t override that reality.”
The coalition identified three structural issues with the proposal. First, it redefines primary business based on asset composition rather than revenue-generating operations. Second, it singles out digital assets while other asset classes face no similar treatment.
Third, it ties index inclusion to volatile market prices, creating unpredictable membership changes.
BFC warned that the proposal could lead to passive fund outflows, higher capital costs, and increased volatility for companies, all unrelated to operational performance.
The group urged MSCI to withdraw the threshold, maintain an operations-based classification, ensure asset-class neutrality, and engage with market participants on a business-aligned framework.
Strive echoes the sentiment
Strive Asset Management, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, also formally urged MSCI last week to reconsider its proposal to exclude companies with bitcoin holdings exceeding 50% of total assets from major equity benchmarks.
In a letter to MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez, Strive warned that the rule could produce inconsistent results due to differing accounting standards under U.S. GAAP and IFRS.
Strive, the 14th-largest corporate bitcoin holder with over 7,500 BTC, argued that the 50% threshold is “unjustified, overbroad, and unworkable.” Its executives highlighted that many bitcoin treasury companies operate real businesses in sectors such as AI data centers, structured finance, and cloud infrastructure.
They compared the proposed treatment of bitcoin to other assets, noting that energy companies with large oil reserves or gold miners are not excluded from indexes.
The firm also cited market volatility, derivatives exposure, and accounting differences as factors that could make index inclusion unpredictable.
Strive warned that strict rules could drive innovation abroad, giving international firms a competitive advantage.
MSCI plans to announce its decision on January 15, 2026. Strive’s intervention reinforces the broader industry call for operations-based classification, asset-class neutrality, and fair treatment of companies holding significant bitcoin as part of their treasury strategy.
MSCI could exclude Strategy
Perhaps the company most affected by this would be Strategy, the tech- and Bitcoin-focused software company famous for its bold Bitcoin reserve strategy. Strategy and Chairman Michael Saylor recently pushed back against concerns that MSCI could exclude the company from major equity indices, which analysts warn might trigger billions in passive outflows.
Saylor emphasized that Strategy is not a fund or holding company but an operating business with a $500 million software division and a $7.7 billion Bitcoin-backed credit program.
He highlighted products like Stretch ($STRC), a Bitcoin-backed credit instrument, and stressed that Strategy actively creates, structures, and operates financial products rather than passively holding assets.
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