Bitcoin think tank questions MSCI’s ‘invisible committee’ over Strategy, Metaplanet rule

A Bitcoin policy think tank has questioned how MSCI developed its latest proposal to tighten the rules governing its market indexes, after the benchmark provider identified companies including Strategy and Metaplanet for potential treatment as “non-operating businesses” and exclusion from its indexes. 

MSCI first proposed excluding digital asset treasury companies from its global indexes in 2025, but shelved the plan in January after pushback and said it would instead review “non-operating companies” more broadly. On Aug. 3, it returned with a wider proposal that could still remove Strategy and Metaplanet from its indexes.

In a research paper titled Wall Street’s Invisible Committee, BPI pointed to metadata showing that the source presentation behind MSCI’s consultation was stored in an internal folder for digital asset treasury companies. BPI said the finding “warrants asking whether its broader language carried forward” MSCI’s earlier effort to exclude digital asset treasury companies. 

Under the broader proposal, MSCI would first assess whether a company has substantial operating assets before applying five additional financial tests. Its own simulation showed that Strategy, Metaplanet and uranium investment company Yellow Cake would be removed under the proposed methodology.