Bitcoin For Corporations (BFC), in coordination with its member companies, formally challenged MSCI’s proposed rule to exclude companies from the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes whose digital assets represent 50% or more of total assets.
The rule will apply to companies whose primary business is classified as digital-active treasury activity.
The BFC claims that the proposal misclassifies operating companies by prioritizing balance sheet holdings over actual business activities.
“MSCI has long defined companies by what they do, not by what they have. This proposal abandons that principle for a single asset class,” said George Mekhail, CEO of the BFC. “A shareholder-approved treasury resolution should not override this reality.”
The coalition identified three structural problems with the proposal. First, it redefines primary business based on asset composition rather than revenue-generating operations. Second, it singles out digital assets while other asset classes face no similar treatment.
Third, it ties index inclusion to volatile market prices, creating unpredictable membership changes.
The BFC warned that the proposal could lead to passive fund outflows, higher capital costs and increased volatility for companies, all unrelated to operational performance.
The group called on MSCI to withdraw the threshold, maintain an operations-based classification, ensure asset class neutrality and engage with market participants on a business-friendly framework.
Strive repeats the mood
Strive Asset Management, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, also formally called on MSCI last week to reconsider its proposal to exclude companies with bitcoin holdings above 50% of total assets from major equity benchmarks.
In a letter to MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez, Strive warned that the rule could produce inconsistent results due to different accounting standards under US GAAP and IFRS.
Strive, the 14th largest corporate bitcoin holder with over 7,500 BTC, argued that the 50% threshold is “unwarranted, overreaching and unworkable.” Its executives highlighted that many bitcoin treasury companies operate real businesses in sectors such as AI data centers, structured finance and cloud infrastructure.
They compared the proposed treatment of bitcoin to other assets, noting that energy companies with large oil reserves or gold miners are not excluded from indices.
The firm also cited market volatility, derivative exposure and accounting differences as factors that could make index inclusion unpredictable.
Strive warned that strict regulations could drive innovation abroad and give international companies a competitive advantage.
MSCI plans to announce its decision on January 15, 2026. Strive’s intervention reinforces the broader industry call for operations-based classification, asset class neutrality and fair treatment of companies with significant bitcoin holdings as part of their financial strategy.
MSCI could exclude Strategy
Perhaps the company most affected by this would be Strategy, the technology and Bitcoin-focused software company famous for its bold Bitcoin reserve strategy. Strategy and chairman Michael Saylor recently pushed back against concerns that MSCI could exclude the company from major stock indexes, which analysts warn could trigger billions in passive outflows.
Saylor emphasized that Strategy is not a fund or holding company, but an operating company with a $500 million software division and a $7.7 billion Bitcoin-backed credit program.
He highlighted products such as Stretch ($STRC), a Bitcoin-backed credit instrument, and emphasized that Strategy actively creates, structures and operates financial products rather than passively holding assets.
Disclaimer: Bitcoin For Corporations and Bitcoin Magazine both operate under the parent company BTC Inc.