The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) criticized MSCI's proposal to classify companies like Strategy and Metaplanet as non-productive, which could lead to their exclusion from MSCI indices. On August 3, MSCI returned with a broader proposal that could still exclude Strategy and Metaplanet from its indices. In a BPI study titled "The Invisible Wall Street Committee," the institute pointed to metadata showing that the original MSCI consultation materials were stored in an internal folder for companies dealing with digital assets. According to BPI, this "raises the question of whether the broader proposal" carried over MSCI's previous attempt to exclude such companies.
MSCI first proposed excluding companies with digital assets on their balance sheets from its global indices in 2025, but postponed the plan in January after resistance and stated it would instead review a broader category of "non-productive companies."
Under the broader proposal, MSCI will first assess whether a company has significant operating assets before applying five additional financial tests. Its own simulation showed that Strategy, Metaplanet, and the uranium investment company Yellow Cake would be excluded under the proposed methodology. Excluding crypto treasury companies like Strategy or Metaplanet from MSCI indices could force funds tracking these benchmarks to sell their shares. In 2025, JPMorgan analysts estimated a potential outflow for Strategy of approximately $2.8 billion if excluded.
Following the postponed crypto-specific proposal in January, MSCI maintained temporary restrictions for affected companies with digital assets, including limits on new inclusions in its indices while a broader review was developed. MSCI stated that the new test is designed to identify companies whose value is primarily tied to asset accumulation rather than income-generating operations. BPI also questioned MSCI's use of the term "operating assets," noting that it is not a standardized balance sheet category under either US GAAP or IFRS. According to BPI, this gives MSCI significant leeway in classifying assets: cash, investments, construction projects, strategic investments.
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