MSCI has approved new eligibility criteria for its Global Investable Market Indexes that could force the removal of companies classified as non-operating entities. The decision, announced on October 15, centers on quantitative screens designed to distinguish traditional operating businesses from firms whose primary value or income stems from passive asset holdings, including large Bitcoin treasuries.

The rules follow an August consultation and will apply to widely tracked benchmarks used by passive funds and ETFs. MSCI will publish the final list of affected companies on November 11, with changes taking effect after the market close on November 30, 2026.

How the New Screening Works

Under the adopted framework, MSCI first assesses whether a company maintains substantial operating assets. Firms that fail this initial test then undergo evaluation against five financial ratios. A company becomes ineligible if it fails at least four of those five tests.

Existing index constituents generally face removal only after failing the screens across two consecutive annual reporting periods. MSCI may also review the most recent interim financial statements. For companies seeking new inclusion, failure in either of the two most recent annual periods can block entry. The methodology includes buffers intended to limit frequent membership changes.

MSCI will simultaneously end temporary restrictions previously applied to companies whose digital-asset holdings equal or exceed 50 percent of total assets. Those measures had limited share-count increases, investability adjustments, and certain reclassifications. Affected firms will now be evaluated solely under the non-operating company screens.

Companies Identified in Earlier Simulations

An earlier MSCI simulation using May 2026 data flagged Strategy, the Bitcoin treasury firm formerly known as MicroStrategy, and Japan-based Metaplanet as candidates for deletion. UK uranium investment vehicle Yellow Cake also appeared among potential removals. Ethereum treasury company SharpLink was placed on a watchlist, along with other crypto-related names including Sharplink Inc, Ton Strategy Company, Solana Company, and DeFi Development Corp.

Strategy continues to expand its Bitcoin position. Recent disclosures showed holdings of 848,250 BTC after additional purchases. Metaplanet has similarly maintained a large Bitcoin treasury while allocating a portion of assets to income-generating investments.

Potential Market Impact and Company Response

Index removals typically require funds tracking the benchmarks to sell the excluded shares during rebalancing. Strategy has estimated that funds linked to MSCI’s Global Investable Market Indexes hold roughly 13 million of its shares, or about 3.1 percent of basic shares outstanding, a position the company described as less than one average day’s trading volume.

Analysts at JPMorgan previously estimated that Strategy’s exclusion could generate approximately $2.8 billion in selling pressure based on holdings in major MSCI indexes. Broader adoption of similar rules by other index providers could raise that figure substantially higher, according to the same analysis tied to an earlier proposal.

Critics of index exclusions have noted the broader consequences for passive investors. Conner Brown, executive director of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, stated in September that such a removal “removes a company from the default portfolios of tens of millions of people who never chose to remove it.”

Strategy has argued that its Bitcoin treasury operations qualify as an operating segment under U.S. accounting standards and that the classification lacks grounding in established principles. The company maintains that any forced sales would not meaningfully disrupt its shares given current trading liquidity.

The November 11 announcement will clarify which firms meet the final exclusion criteria. Until then, the screening results from upcoming financial filings will determine whether Strategy, Metaplanet, and the watchlisted companies remain eligible for continued index membership.