Saylor Urges MSCI to Drop 'Discriminatory' Rule That Would Delete Strategy

Strategy founder Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le have asked MSCI to withdraw a proposed eligibility test that would delete the Bitcoin treasury company from the index provider's global benchmarks, in a letter published Monday.

The proposal is "discriminatory, arbitrary, and misguided," the letter stated, arguing that it serves as a pretext for targeting digital asset treasuries and repackages the 50% crypto-holdings proposal MSCI declined to implement in January.

The consultation, opened in August, covers what MSCI terms "non-operating companies." Issuers whose operating assets fall below half of total assets face a five-flag screen measuring operating asset intensity, expenses, cash flow, fair-value swings and dependence on external financing. Tripping four flags renders a company ineligible, and existing constituents must fail in two consecutive annual reviews before deletion.

MSCI's consultation puts the impact of the screen, applied to the ACWI IMI as of May 2026, at three deletions: Strategy, with a float-adjusted market capitalization of $23.93 billion; UK uranium holder Yellow Cake at $1.81 billion; and Japan's Metaplanet at $654 million. Three more would go on a public watchlist—Ethereum treasury SharpLink, Taiwan's Center Laboratories and Turkey's Lydia Holding.

Strategy's letter names only the three crypto companies among that group, and says Strategy accounts for roughly 87% of the float-adjusted market capitalization at stake across all six.

Strategy and MSCI

The Bitcoin treasury company's second-quarter 10-Q, filed August 3, defines its Bitcoin treasury operations as a separate reportable operating segment, and the firm books Bitcoin fair-value changes within operating expenses. On that treatment, the letter argues, Strategy trips neither the expense flag nor the fair-value flag.

Saylor and Le also play down the stakes, writing that the proposal would have no meaningful impact on Strategy's business while "profoundly" harming MSCI's reputation as a neutral index provider. The campaign page hosting the letter puts funds tracking GIMI indexes at 3.1% of basic shares. JPMorgan analysts estimated in November 2025 that MSCI exclusion could drive $2.8 billion in outflows, rising to $11.6 billion if other index providers followed.

The two executives made a similar appeal in December, when they warned MSCI that excluding crypto treasuries would harm U.S. national security.

Monday's letter closes by asking MSCI to place a legal hold on all documents relating to the test's development.

Feedback closes September 30, with results due by October 16 and any changes taking effect in the November index review.