Strategy on the Edge: MSCI May Exclude Strategy and Metaplanet from Global Indices
The largest stock index provider, MSCI, has launched a consultation on a project that could radically change the rules for including companies in its global indices (GIMI). According to my analysis of simulation data as of May 2026, bitcoin strategy giants such as Strategy and Metaplanet, as well as Yellow Cake PLC, which holds physical uranium, are at risk of exclusion.
MSCI, formerly known as Morgan Stanley Capital International, is a benchmark for asset managers worldwide. Index funds managing trillions of dollars are required to replicate the composition of MSCI indices. Any change in selection criteria could trigger large-scale buying or selling of shares, making this project critically important for the market.
Who is at risk of exclusion
The second stage of the review includes five financial ratios, among them the balance sheet's saturation with operating assets, cash flow, and the dependence of growth on external financing. MSCI will exclude a company if it fails four out of five tests. The project targets companies that behave more like investment funds rather than operating businesses.
The primary filter triggers when operating assets account for less than half of the balance sheet. Strategy, with its bitcoin accumulation model, does not meet this rule: the company issues shares and bonds to buy BTC rather than to develop its software business. The filter will also affect Metaplanet, a Tokyo-based company that has amassed the world's third-largest corporate bitcoin reserve through share sales.
Transitional measures and public list
MSCI plans to set a softer threshold for existing index members than for new candidates. A company will only be excluded after two consecutive failed reviews. Three more companies will be added to a new public watchlist, including SharpLink with ETH reserves. They failed the last annual review, so exclusion threatens them only after a second failure.
Yellow Cake, which owns physical uranium and does not run an operating business, violated the same criteria as bitcoin holders, although it has no relation to the crypto market.
The MSCI consultation period will end on September 30. Results are planned to be announced on October 16, and changes will take effect during the index review in November 2026.
MSCI's decision could serve as a benchmark for other index providers that will need to determine the fate of public companies that have built their financial strategy around digital assets. I believe this is only the first step toward revising the status of "non-operating" companies in the global financial system, and the crypto industry should prepare for new challenges in institutional adoption.