MSCI has finalized index rules that could exclude Strategy, Metaplanet and other investment-heavy companies, putting bitcoin BTC treasury firms on notice. The affected companies will be named on Nov. 11, and any removals take effect after trading closes on Nov. 30.

MSCI says those firms will be ineligible for its Global Investable Market Indexes under rules it first proposed in August. The final decision creates a defined screening process, but the list of companies that will leave remains conditional until MSCI names them.

Investors who use index-tracking funds can affect demand for a company’s shares when index membership changes. Funds tracking an index buy a company’s stock when it is added and sell when it is removed, regardless of a fund manager’s view of the business. The rule therefore concerns equity holdings. Any fund sales would affect shares, not directly remove bitcoin from a company’s treasury.

How the bitcoin BTC treasury screen works

MSCI will first assess whether a company has substantial operating assets tied to a real business. A company that fails that screen faces a second review covering five financial ratios. The ratios examine expenses, cash flow, changes in asset values and reliance on outside financing. A company flagged on four or more of the five measures is ineligible.

The process also includes buffers intended to limit repeated changes in index membership. A current member must fail the screen in each of its two most recent annual filing periods to be removed. A company seeking entry is blocked if it fails in either of its two most recent periods.

In a first test using May 2026 data, MSCI flagged three companies for possible removal from its ACWI Investable Market Index: Strategy, Metaplanet and Yellow Cake, a U.K. uranium investment company. MSCI is due to identify affected firms on Nov. 11.

Strategy faces a potential funding effect

The rule puts Strategy, based in Tysons Corner, Virginia, under particular scrutiny. Bitcoin Treasuries reported that Strategy held 848,250 BTC worth about $69.67 billion. The company has funded purchases by selling preferred shares, including STRC and STRK. It describes its software arm as an operating business and its bitcoin treasury as a separate business segment. Founder Michael Saylor has rejected comparisons with investment funds.

JPMorgan analysts have estimated that exclusion could prompt about $2.8 billion in outflows from MSTR stock. That estimate is conditional, because MSCI has not yet published the final affected-company list. Index-related selling would target the shares and would not necessarily mean Strategy sells bitcoin. Weaker share demand could, however, make it harder for companies to raise money for additional bitcoin purchases.

Strategy’s shares closed at $151.29 on Thursday, about 72% below their record high of $543 in November 2024. Tokyo-based Metaplanet closed at 277 yen ($1.75) on Friday after reaching 1,930 yen in June 2025, according to TradingView. Those reported prices describe the companies’ shares; they do not establish the effect of MSCI’s finalized rules.

MSCI is also ending temporary measures announced in October 2025 for companies whose digital assets represented 50% or more of total assets. The measures had frozen increases in index share counts and delayed additions and size-segment moves. Starting with the November review, those companies will be assessed under the new rules. MSCI’s Nov. 11 disclosure will identify firms affected by the policy.

The policy sits within a wider debate about how financial indexes treat digital-asset businesses, alongside proposed crypto safeguards. The rule also connects with institutional participation in crypto markets and broader changes in crypto’s financial use.

MSCI’s finalized index rules make November’s review the next test. The Nov. 11 list will show which companies meet the exclusion criteria, while the close of Nov. 30 is when any resulting index changes take effect.