Strategy, a major player in the digital assets market, has publicly criticized a proposal by index provider MSCI to tighten the criteria for including issuers in its baskets. In an official statement, Strategy's management called the initiative "discriminatory and arbitrary," emphasizing that the new approach targets companies whose business model involves significant investments in assets not directly related to their core operations.
The essence of MSCI's proposal is as follows: if the share of assets unrelated to an issuer's core business exceeds 50%, such an issuer may be subject to additional review. As a result of this procedure, the company risks completely losing its place in index baskets. In effect, this is a direct blow to organizations that deliberately diversify their reserves, including through bitcoin.
Notably, in a test application of the new criteria, two prominent companies—Strategy and Japan's Metaplanet—were automatically flagged for exclusion. Additionally, SharpLink was added to the watchlist. These examples clearly demonstrate that the proposed rules are not just a theoretical threat but an already functioning filtering mechanism that could radically reshape the landscape of index investing.
MSCI continues to collect feedback from market participants until September 30, with a final decision on the matter expected to be announced no later than October 16. This means the industry has limited time to adjust the provider's stance and prevent the adoption of discriminatory norms.
My analysis: Strategy's position is fully justified. Such criteria create a dangerous precedent where index management companies begin to assess not market value or liquidity, but the "purity" of a business model. This opens Pandora's box: tomorrow, other issuers with unconventional capital structures could fall under similar restrictions. Investors should closely monitor the outcome of this dispute, as it will determine whether bitcoin companies can remain accessible to passive index funds.