Crypto-holding companies Strategy and Metaplanet narrowly avoided delisting several months ago, but now they are again being targeted by index compiler MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International), facing the risk of being kicked out of global major stock indexes once more.

MSCI has launched a new round of market consultations this month, proposing to remove “non-operating companies” from its “Global Investable Market Index (GIMI).” To avoid repeating past mistakes, MSCI this time will not use “crypto holdings” as the cutoff criterion. Instead, it will adopt five major financial indicators to screen companies.

According to MSCI’s calculations, if this new standard is applied to the “MSCI Global Investable Market Composite Index (MSCI ACWI IMI Index)” and the benchmark is based on asset holdings as of May 2026, then three companies would be removed: Strategy and Metaplanet, which hold large amounts of Bitcoin, and Yellow Cake, a listed company that accumulates physical uranium mines.

MSCI’s proposed assessment mechanism is divided into 2 stages. The first stage is the core screening—i.e., whether a company’s "operating assets" account for more than 50% of its total assets. If it meets the threshold smoothly, it can pass safely; but if it fails, it must enter the second stage of "exclusion screening."

In the second stage, MSCI will conduct an in-depth review using five key financial metrics, including: operating asset density, expense density, cash flow, fair value density, and capital dependency. If a company fails to meet the requirements in 4 out of the 5 tests above, it may lose its eligibility for inclusion in the MSCI index.

Although MSCI did not directly name any bitcoin reserve company, its description of "non-operating companies" closely matches companies that have accumulated large amounts of bitcoin in recent years and mainly rely on raising funds from capital markets to expand their assets.

MSCI stated that these companies primarily create value by "accumulating and holding non-operating assets." Their core business can hardly generate actual cash flow, and growth is highly dependent on external financing rather than profits from their main operations.

In fact, this is not the first time MSCI has gone after the crypto industry. As early as October 2025, MSCI floated a shock proposal to treat companies whose digital assets account for more than 50% of total assets as "quasi-funds," and plans to remove these "bitcoin-hoarding stocks" during the index’s quarterly adjustments.

That proposal named 39 companies at once, causing major turbulence in the cryptocurrency market and triggering strong backlash from the industry. Ultimately, it forced MSCI to put the proposal on hold.

Currently, MSCI is actively soliciting input from market participants. The public consultation period will continue until September 30, and the decision results are expected to be formally announced on October 16. MSCI emphasized that if the proposal is ultimately approved, any resulting component stock adjustments will be carried out as part of the semiannual index weight review in November 2026.

"『Bitcoin-hoarding stocks』again face a threat of removal from the MSCI index! Strategy and Metaplanet may also be delisted." This article was first published by (Blockcast).