Bitcoin Policy Institute Warns MSCI Index Rule Could Threaten Strategy, Metaplanet

A new policy paper argues an opaque MSCI review process could force index funds to dump shares of bitcoin treasury companies.

The Bitcoin Policy Institute, a Washington-based research group focused on digital asset policy, has released a paper examining a rule under review at MSCI. The index provider is reportedly weighing changes that could affect how it classifies companies holding substantial bitcoin reserves on their balance sheets.

Strategy, the business intelligence firm formerly known as MicroStrategy, is the paper's primary subject. The company has built one of the largest corporate bitcoin treasuries in the world over the past several years. Metaplanet, a Japanese firm pursuing a similar bitcoin accumulation strategy, is also named in the paper as potentially exposed to the rule.

MSCI compiles widely tracked equity indices used by passive funds, pension managers, and institutional investors globally. Inclusion in an MSCI index can drive significant buying from funds that mirror the benchmark. Removal can trigger the opposite effect, forcing automatic selling regardless of a company's underlying business performance.

The Bitcoin Policy Institute's central criticism targets how MSCI arrives at such decisions. The paper describes the index provider's internal review process as an 'invisible committee,' a label meant to highlight what the group sees as a lack of public transparency around the criteria used. According to the think tank, companies with significant exposure to digital assets face review standards that are not clearly disclosed to the market.