MSCI to Drop Strategy (MSTR) From Major Indexes at Nov. 30 Close
MSCI said Wednesday that Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, will be removed from the MSCI USA Index at the Nov. 30 close after a new screening classified the company as a nonoperating issuer. The deletion also drops Strategy from the broader MSCI World and ACWI indexes.
The changes came in the MSCI November 2026 Index Review, released shortly after 5 p.m. ET. The review also removes Metaplanet of Japan from the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index, Yellow Cake from the MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index, Skel Fjarfestingafelag of Iceland from the MSCI Iceland Frontier Markets Small Cap Index and Upexi from the MSCI USA Micro Cap Index.
MSCI had already flagged all five for deletion on a potential-impact list based on Sept. 30 financial data and Oct. 9 market values. Strategy was the only large-cap company in the group and accounted for more than 90% of the combined float-adjusted market value of the five companies on the October list.
Strategy held 850,364 bitcoin as of Nov. 8. It paid $64.16 billion for the holdings, an average of $75,456 per coin. Strategy shares closed regular trading at $122.35, up 1.06%, then fell 1.51% to $120.50 in after-hours trading as of 5:34 p.m. ET.
The new rule does not mention bitcoin. Under the initial screen, operating assets must represent at least 50% of total assets. Companies below that threshold face five financial-ratio tests, and adverse results on at least four make a company ineligible for the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes. A company outside the indexes cannot enter if it fails the ineligibility screen in either of the two latest annual filing periods. An existing constituent faces removal only after failing in both periods. MSCI said the assessment may also use the latest interim filing.
MSCI said Wednesday that the MSCI US Index Series will apply the same treatment to nonoperating issuers. MSCI first proposed in late 2025 excluding companies whose digital assets represent at least 50% of total assets. It abandoned that proposal in January and began a wider consultation in August, then adopted the new methodology with minor changes on Oct. 15. MSCI also said interim restrictions introduced in October 2025 will end, including suspended share-count increases and postponed additions.
Funds tracking an MSCI index must match the index holdings, requiring sales of the deleted stocks by the Nov. 30 close. JPMorgan analysts estimated last November that excluding Strategy could produce about $2.8 billion in outflows. They estimated up to another $8.8 billion in outflows if other index providers followed MSCI. Those estimates concerned the earlier MSCI digital-asset proposal, not the October screen. MSCI has not published an outflow estimate.
Removal from the indexes does not take Strategy shares off stock-exchange trading or require the company to sell bitcoin. The pressure affects Strategy shares and the share-price premium Strategy uses to finance bitcoin purchases through stock sales. Strategy said in an August letter that deletion would have no meaningful impact on its business. Funds tracking MSCI global investable indexes own 3.1% of the basic shares outstanding of Strategy, the company said. Strategy also said it reports the bitcoin treasury as an operating segment under U.S. GAAP.
The potential watchlist included 17 other constituents, among them SharpLink, TON Strategy and Solana Company. Those 17 were absent from the deletion lists published Wednesday. Metaplanet, listed in Tokyo, is the other bitcoin treasury company among the deleted companies. Metaplanet sold bitcoin last quarter to show investors it could use the holdings to obtain liquidity. Strategy bought 1,036 bitcoin for $81.9 million in the week ended Nov. 8.
