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MSCI Criticized for Plan to Exclude Bitcoin Treasury Firms
Strategy CEO Phong Le has pushed back against MSCI’s proposal to exclude companies that hold more than 50% of their assets in crypto, arguing the move would be equivalent to removing energy or real-estate giants from major stock indexes simply for holding the assets they operate with.
In October, MSCI announced that it had begun consulting investors on whether to exclude Bitcoin and other digital-asset treasury companies (DATs) that maintain a majority-crypto balance sheet. The review is ongoing and could result in changes as soon as February.
Speaking with Schwab Network on Wednesday, Le said he respects the work MSCI does but believes its position is fundamentally flawed.
“I have a lot of respect for the indexes,” Le said, “but this stance is misinformed and misguided.”
Comparisons With Chevron, Weyerhaeuser, and Simon Property Group
Le argued that MSCI’s reasoning fails to align with how other sectors are treated.
He noted that Chevron holds most of its assets in oil, Weyerhaeuser in timber, and Simon Property Group in real estate, yet none face index exclusion for asset concentration.
According to Le, penalizing companies simply because their balance sheets reflect their operational focus would be inconsistent with established index methodology.
“It seems very early to pick winners and choosers and stifle innovation in a category like this,” he said.
Strategy later posted a clip of the interview on X (formerly Twitter), writing that restricting index access for Bitcoin-focused companies today would echo historically misguided attempts to limit exposure to emerging industries.
“Restricting passive index investment in bitcoin today would be like restricting investment in oil and oil rigs in the 1900s, spectrum and cell towers in the 1980s, or compute and AI infrastructure in recent years,” the company wrote.
Disputing MSCI’s View That Digital-Asset Firms Resemble Funds
Another point of contention is MSCI’s suggestion that DATs may resemble investment funds, which are not eligible for inclusion in its indexes. Le called that a mischaracterization.
MSCI noted in its consultation document that some DATs may “exhibit characteristics similar to investment funds.” Le strongly disagreed, stating that Strategy has a decades-long operational history.
“I’ve been CFO since 2015, Michael Saylor founded the company in 1989, we’ve been public since 1998,” he said. “We are 100% an operating company legally from a corporate structure.”
Strategy Says MSCI Should Remain Neutral on Crypto
Le’s comments coincided with the public release of Strategy’s formal letter to MSCI, which argues that the proposal introduces bias against crypto as an asset class rather than preserving MSCI’s role as a neutral index provider.
The consultation window remains open until Dec. 31, with MSCI expected to publish its conclusion on Jan. 15. If adopted, the changes could go into effect in February.
Some observers believe the proposal is already far along. Charlie Sherry, head of finance at Australian crypto exchange BTC Markets, told Cointelegraph last month that MSCI typically only opens consultations when it is already leaning toward implementation.
