MSCI Keeps Strategy in Indexes, Freezes Share Adjustments
According to MSCI’s January 8 update, the firm will delay index inclusion or size changes for Strategy, breaking automatic passive inflows tied to new equity issuance and affecting its Bitcoin accumulation model.
BTC
Fact Check
The assessment is based on the highest authority primary sources which detail the annual changes to the Nasdaq-100 index. The most credible evidence comes from the official Nasdaq press release and a news report hosted on Nasdaq.com, both of which are described as listing the companies added to and removed from the index. Crucially, neither of these sources' summaries mention MicroStrategy as one of the companies being removed. The standard process for confirming if a company has retained its position in an index is to check the official list of removals from the index provider. The absence of MicroStrategy from the list of removed companies is strong, direct evidence that it retained its position. While some sources have confusing or irrelevant information (e.g., incorrect company names/tickers, or content about different indices), the most authoritative and relevant sources consistently point towards the conclusion that MicroStrategy was not removed, and therefore, it was retained in the index.
Summary
On January 8, MSCI said it will not remove Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy but imposed a technical freeze on share adjustments. The freeze delays index inclusion or size changes, severing the link between new equity issuance and passive index fund buying, which affects Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation model. This follows MSCI’s January 6 decision to keep digital asset treasury (DAT) firms in its indexes for now. Strategy had previously warned that removal could trigger approximately $2.8 billion in index-linked outflows.
Terms & Concepts
- Digital Asset Treasury (DAT): Companies that hold significant digital assets—such as Bitcoin—on their balance sheets but do not operate blockchain businesses.
- Bitcoin (BTC): The largest cryptocurrency by market value, sometimes held by public companies as a treasury reserve asset.