Index Provider MSCI Removes Strategy From Equity Benchmark

MSCI Inc. has dropped Strategy Inc. 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 Bitcoin holdings.

Strategy is among the firms that the major index provider is removing its MSCI USA Index after it adopted new eligibility rules, according to results of the November 2026 Index Review for the MSCI Equity Indexes released 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. 

Strategy has said it expects the firm’s class A common stock to be excluded from the MSCI Indexes as part of the review, according to the quarterly report in late October. Strategy didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. 

Shares of Strategy fell almost 2% in after-hours trading. The stock is down almost 20% this year. Bitcoin has dropped around 15% 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. 

As index-tracking funds rebalance, they usually sell billions of dollars in shares. Last year, JPMorgan 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 TV, he said the index provider was “imposing prejudicial values on digital assets.” He called their decision a “value judgment” that sets a bad precedent. 

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