MSCI Revives Non-Operating Company Index Screen Concerns for Bitcoin Treasury Companies

MSCI is revisiting its index eligibility screen for non-operating companies in August 2026. The proposal would first examine operating assets, then apply five financial ratios to companies that fail the initial test. A company would fail the second screen if flagged on at least four of those ratios. This new approach is not a Bitcoin-only exclusion, but it has raised concerns among Bitcoin treasury companies.

Strive's chief executive Matt Cole wrote a letter in December 2025, arguing that Bitcoin treasury companies can operate structured-finance businesses and that investors should be able to choose tailored index screens. MSCI decided against implementing an earlier idea to exclude companies whose digital-asset holdings exceeded half of their total assets in January 2026.

The consultation uses May 2026 data to illustrate possible outcomes, with simulated deletion lists including Bitcoin holders Strategy and Metaplanet, along with Yellow Cake, a uranium investment company. These are modeled results, not completed removals. Existing index members would receive a two-period buffer before a deletion, so a single failed screen would not necessarily remove a current constituent.