Strive CEO Matt Cole has criticized MSCI’s updated proposal for classifying companies with significant digital asset holdings, arguing it still fails to treat Bitcoin treasury operations as legitimate business activity. In an August 14 response to MSCI’s revised consultation, Cole said companies that raise capital and actively manage Bitcoin treasuries should be considered operating businesses rather than passive investment entities. The distinction matters because MSCI classifications help determine whether companies remain in major indices tracked by trillions of dollars in passive investment products, meaning an adverse decision could trigger selling by index funds, ETFs, and institutional portfolios. The dispute follows MSCI’s late-2025 proposal to exclude companies from its indices if more than 50% of their balance sheet consisted of digital assets. After industry backlash, MSCI abandoned that plan in January 2026 and launched a broader consultation on how to classify non-operating companies. Cole argues that firms using instruments such as perpetual preferred equity (a hybrid security with no fixed maturity) to build Bitcoin treasuries are conducting real operating activity, more akin to a corporate treasury function than a trust or closed-end fund.