MSCI’s proposed screening rules for “non-operating companies” could remove Strategy from the MSCI Global Investable Market Index, placing one of the most prominent corporate Bitcoin holders under fresh pressure ahead of the index provider’s November 2026 review. A May simulation also listed Japan’s Metaplanet and uranium-focused Yellow Cake among companies that would be excluded under the draft framework.
The consultation targets companies whose value and financing model are increasingly tied to accumulating assets rather than running a conventional operating business. MSCI said it would assess factors including operating assets, expenses, cash flow, fair-value changes in non-operating holdings, and a company’s dependence on external fundraising to expand those holdings.
For Strategy, which has used equity and debt issuance to finance a large Bitcoin treasury, the proposed test directly addresses the model that has helped turn its shares into a widely traded proxy for Bitcoin exposure. Removal from a major MSCI benchmark could force index-tracking funds to sell the stock if the rules are adopted without material changes, though MSCI has not made a final decision.
Public feedback on the proposal closes Sept. 30. MSCI expects to publish its decision by Oct. 16, with any resulting index changes potentially taking effect during its November review.
Treasury-company model faces an index test
The draft comes as listed companies holding large cryptocurrency balances have become a more visible part of equity markets. Strategy’s approach has inspired other firms to raise capital for digital-asset acquisitions, including Metaplanet, which has adopted Bitcoin as a core treasury asset, and Forward Industries, which recently resumed purchases of Solana’s SOL token.
Forward Industries bought 254,000 SOL between July and Aug. 3 at an average price of $75 per token, according to the company’s disclosures. The purchases brought its holdings above 7.8 million SOL, extending a corporate-accumulation strategy that depends heavily on the market value of a token rather than revenue from an underlying operating business.
MSCI’s proposal does not single out Bitcoin or digital assets. Its language instead focuses on corporate characteristics: whether a company has meaningful operating assets and cash flow, how much reported performance is driven by fair-value gains or losses on non-operating assets, and whether repeated capital raising is needed to grow those positions.
That framing could capture businesses beyond crypto treasury companies. Yellow Cake, for example, holds physical uranium rather than operating mines. The simulated list suggests MSCI is considering a broader distinction between companies that run businesses and those primarily designed to provide listed exposure to an asset.
The review could reshape how corporate crypto-treasury strategies are presented to public-market traders. Inclusion in widely followed benchmarks has historically supported passive ownership and liquidity, while exclusion can narrow the pool of funds able to hold a stock under index-based mandates.
Higher borrowing costs complicate asset accumulation
The potential index changes arrive while U.S. borrowing costs remain elevated. The Treasury is scheduled to sell $25 billion of 30-year bonds on Thursday, with expected financing costs projected to be the highest since 2001.
U.S. net interest costs reached $1.17 trillion during the current fiscal year through the end of September, up 15% from a year earlier. Congressional data cited in the supplied material showed federal debt rose by $2.25 trillion during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term and had increased by $3.16 trillion by July. Total national debt reached $39.8 trillion in early August, according to the same data.
Higher long-term yields raise the cost of issuing debt across the economy, including for public companies that borrow to fund acquisitions or treasury strategies. Companies using convertibles, bonds or recurring share sales to buy crypto may face a more demanding market if their financing costs rise while the underlying assets remain volatile.
The pressure is not uniform. Companies with operating revenue and cash flow have more internal capacity to service debt or fund growth. Asset-holding companies relying on capital markets must contend with the price of their holdings, share dilution and the availability of new financing at the same time.
MiCA authorizations shrink Europe’s provider base
Regulatory consolidation is also changing the competitive landscape in Europe. TRM Labs reported that 281 of 1,343 crypto-asset service providers received authorization after the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, known as MiCA, took full effect. That represents about 20% of the pre-MiCA total cited in the report.
The national differences were substantial. Poland, which previously had more than 1,800 registered crypto organizations, recorded no approvals in the data cited by TRM Labs. Lithuania approved eight firms from a base of more than 400, while Germany’s BaFin authorized 55 providers. Regulators in France and the Netherlands each approved 29.
The numbers indicate that registration under earlier national systems did not automatically translate into authorization under MiCA’s more demanding requirements. Licensed firms now have a clearer legal route to operate across the bloc, while companies unable to meet capital, governance and compliance standards face a smaller space in which to serve European customers.
U.S. agencies focus on crypto and prediction markets
In Washington, rulemaking and enforcement questions remain unsettled. Securities and Exchange Commission officials postponed a planned meeting to propose a “Regulation Crypto” rule, citing unforeseen scheduling issues and offering no replacement date.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is moving ahead with its Innovation Advisory Committee, which CFTC Chair Michael S. Selig said will hold its first meeting in Washington on Aug. 20. The meeting will be webcast publicly and is expected to cover crypto-asset regulation, artificial intelligence and prediction markets. Public comments are open through Aug. 27.
Prediction markets have already become a legal battleground. Baltimore and Mayor Brendan Scott sued Kalshi and Polymarket, alleging that the companies operate unlicensed sports-prediction platforms in violation of local gambling and deceptive-business laws. The city argued that products marketed as tradable “event contracts” amount to prohibited sports betting under Maryland law.
Baltimore’s complaint against Kalshi also named Robinhood, Webull and Coinbase as distribution partners. The filing centers on whether sports contracts can legally be offered through a federally regulated event-contract framework and whether consumers were given misleading assurances about their legality in Maryland.
Institutional firms broaden beyond crypto trading
Wintermute, a major crypto market maker, said it plans to invest about $1 billion over five years in artificial-intelligence infrastructure and high-frequency trading systems. The company aims to expand into equities, commodities, foreign exchange and prediction markets, with a target for non-crypto activities to account for more than half of revenue by the end of 2027, compared with about 10% now.
Wintermute said its average daily trading volume this year was about $10 billion, down from roughly $15 billion last year, and that retained earnings would fund the expansion. Its plan reflects how some large crypto-native firms are seeking revenue streams less dependent on token-market volumes.
The separation between operating businesses and asset-holding vehicles is becoming more consequential across these developments. MSCI’s proposed methodology, MiCA’s authorization process and the funding choices of trading firms all place greater weight on durable operations, transparent financing and regulatory standing—criteria that could determine which crypto-linked public companies retain access to major pools of market liquidity.
For deeper context on today’s MSCI discussion and market sentiment, read this detailed MSCI review breakdown now.
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