Index provider MSCI has confirmed removing Strategy (MSTR), formerly MicroStrategy, from its Global Investable Market Indexes, including the MSCI USA Index, at the November 30 market close.
Funds tracking the affected indexes will sell Strategy shares as they rebalance, potentially making it harder for the largest publicly traded Bitcoin holder to finance new purchases.
This move followed a new “non-operating” company screen introduced on October 15 by MSCI, which also removed Tokyo-listed Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet from its Japan Small Cap Index.
After the announcement on November 11, Strategy’s shares fell 2.6% to $119.06, The Block reported.
Under MSCI’s earlier proposal, JP Morgan estimated in November 2025 that exclusion could trigger about $2.8 billion in stock sales. The bank also flagged the risk of larger outflows if other index providers followed suit.
During MSCI’s consultation, Strategy argued that being removed would have minimal impact on its business, noting that funds tracking the affected indexes held roughly 13 million shares, or 3.1% of its basic shares outstanding at the time.
This proposal would not meaningfully affect Strategy: funds tracking MSCI GIMI indices hold only 3.1% of Strategy’s basic shares outstanding. We believe the proposal is misguided, said Strategy.
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How the MSCI removal could affect Bitcoin buying
Strategy warned in its third-quarter filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that exclusion could hurt its share price and make its stock harder to trade, which could limit its ability to raise capital to buy Bitcoin.
The bigger risk is Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation model. Strategy relies heavily on capital raising to fund BTC purchases. Losing passive index demand could put further pressure on its mNAV premium, already near 1.08x. A shrinking premium makes new equity issuance less accretive, potentially slowing future Bitcoin accumulation, BloFin Research explained.
To understand why, start with mNAV (multiple of net asset value), a metric comparing the company’s market value to the value of its Bitcoin holdings. A ratio above 1 means investors are paying a premium over the underlying Bitcoin, while a figure below 1 indicates the stock is trading at a discount.
Historically, Strategy has financed its Bitcoin acquisitions through convertible debt, preferred equity, and at-the-market common stock offerings. The viability of this capital-raising strategy depends on the company’s shares trading at a premium, defined as an mNAV exceeding 1x.
A lower share price would mean selling more shares to raise the same amount of cash. According to its November 9 filing, Strategy raised $283.8 million from common stock sales in the week through November 8, and used $81.9 million of those proceeds to buy 1,036 Bitcoin.
The purchase brought Strategy’s total holdings to 850,364 BTC as of November 8. The filing showed $18.34 billion of common stock was still available to sell under its existing program.
Why MSCI changed its index rules
In October, MSCI adopted new rules to identify companies that function like investment funds.
First, it looks for assets used to run a business, then applies five financial tests to companies that fail the initial screen.
MSCI considers companies ineligible if they fail at least four of those five tests.
MSCI must remove existing members only after they fail the screen in each of their two most recent annual filing periods.
The approach replaces temporary restrictions on companies holding at least half of their assets in crypto.
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