Strategy Inc. fell after MSCI Inc. dropped the Bitcoin accumulator from its global equity benchmarks, potentially triggering billions of dollars in stock sales and adding fresh pressure to the financing model behind Michael Saylor’s vast cryptocurrency holdings.
Strategy is among the firms that the major index provider is removing from its MSCI USA Index after it adopted new eligibility rules, according to the results of the November 2026 Index Review for the MSCI Equity Indexes released late Wednesday. Last month, MSCI said it would exclude companies classified as non-operating businesses under a new framework that takes effect at the close of Nov. 30.
“We calculate $1.6b of outflows from an MSCI exit and have seen arguments for multiples of that amount if other index providers follow; none has moved, but the precedent is set,” Gus Galá, an analyst at Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co., wrote in a note.
Strategy said earlier it expected the firm’s Class A common stock to be excluded from the MSCI Indexes as part of the review. Strategy didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Shares of Strategy fell 6.5%. The stock is down about 25% this year. Bitcoin has dropped around 18% during the same period.
The exclusion can add more stress to the Bitcoin accumulating model in which the firm sells a variety of securities, including common stock and preferred shares at a premium in order to fund its token purchases. Pioneered by Saylor, Strategy’s co-founder and executive chairman, the firm has acquired over $60 billion in Bitcoin since the middle of 2020.
MSCI will also remove Tokyo-based Bitcoin treasury Metaplanet Inc. from its Japan Small Cap Index as part of the review. The company holds 44,000 Bitcoin. The deletion “has no material impact on Metaplanet’s business or Bitcoin strategy,” said its Chief Executive Officer Simon Gerovich.
As index-tracking funds rebalance, they usually sell billions of dollars in shares. Last year, JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimated that such an event could trigger as much as $2.8 billion of Strategy sales, and potentially another $8.8 billion if other indexes follow suit.
Saylor has downplayed any potential impacts by the decision. In an October interview with Bloomberg Television, he said the index provider was “imposing prejudicial values on digital assets.” He called their decision a “value judgment” that sets a bad precedent.
Written by: David Pan — With assistance from Alice French and Monique Mulima @Bloomberg
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