Strategy Challenges MSCI Plan to Remove Crypto Treasury Companies From Key Indexes

Source: CoinEdition Original Title: Strategy Challenges MSCI Crypto Treasury Plan and Warns of Forced Outflows Original Link: Strategy Inc. has submitted a formal response to the MSCI Equity Index Committee after the index provider proposed removing firms that hold digital assets worth 50% or more of their total assets.

Strategy Pushes Back On MSCI Crypto Treasury Proposal

The letter, signed by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le, argues that digital asset treasury companies (DATs) operate as active businesses rather than simple Bitcoin tracking vehicles. Strategy uses Bitcoin as productive corporate capital and not as a passive store of value, the executives wrote.

The company claimed that investors buy into its business model, which includes Bitcoin-backed credit products, an active corporate treasury program, and a long-running global analytics software division.

Strategy Says DATs Are Operating Firms Not Bitcoin Funds

Strategy added that MSCI’s proposal misrepresents the basic structure of DATs and creates an inaccurate picture of companies like MSTR.

The executives stated that their company is not an investment fund because it is organized as a traditional operating firm, holds no obligations that resemble an ETP, and creates no fund-like tax structure for shareholders.

“Strategy was founded more than 35 years ago as an innovative software company, and today conducts a global software business that generates hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue annually. Its origins and history further illustrate that an investment in Strategy is an investment not merely in Bitcoin.”

Strategy Says MSCI Rule Unfairly Targets Crypto Treasury Firms

Strategy warned that the proposed 50% requirement is unworkable. Many firms in oil, timber, mining, real estate, and energy hold concentrated asset positions without any risk of index exclusion. Strategy says this rule would unfairly target crypto-heavy firms alone.

CEO Phong Le noted that 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 infrastructure in prior decades.

The company also argued that the proposal comes at a time when the government is increasingly investing in crypto. The letter warned that removal of DATs could trigger forced outflows worth billions of dollars.

Meanwhile, Strategy has continued to add more BTC to its balance sheet. A recent filing shows that the company bought 10,624 BTC between December 1 and December 7 for a total of $962.7 million at an average cost of $90,615 per coin. The company now holds more than $60.6 billion in Bitcoin.

The company funded most of the buy through its at-the-market stock sale program. Interestingly, the buy followed a quieter period in which Strategy added only 130 BTC between November 17 to November 30.