Michael Saylor criticizes MSCI's plan to exclude companies with high cryptocurrency holdings from the index

December 11 news, Bitcoin financial company Strategy's Executive Chairman Michael Saylor publicly criticized a proposal to exclude the company from the U.S. index, calling it “biased” and “harmful.” In response to MSCI's proposal to exclude companies with cryptocurrency holdings exceeding 50% of total assets, Strategy raised key objections from technical, accounting, and political perspectives. Strategy warned that if MSCI passes the proposal before January 15, it will have “extremely harmful consequences.”

Strategy executives believe that the 50% rule “arbitrarily singles out companies in the digital asset space, giving them unfair special treatment,” and pointed out that some companies have similar exposure to oil, timber, and gold, and the proposed restriction also overlooks other core factors in price volatility and balance sheet accounting. The core of Strategy is that the company is different from investment funds; it actively uses Bitcoin to create returns for shareholders, rather than merely as a “wrapper” for the original cryptocurrency, and it pursues value creation through technological innovation. Finally, the letter mentions a broader debate about passive investing, stating that the proposal is inconsistent with MSCI's role as a standard-setting body and will raise concerns about the neutrality of its index.