Strive, a Nasdaq-listed firm and the 14th-largest public holder of Bitcoin, is pushing back against MSCI’s plan to remove companies with significant digital-asset exposure from its global indexes.
Key Takeaways:
- Strive says MSCI’s plan to exclude crypto-heavy firms would shut investors out of key growth sectors.
- JPMorgan warns Strategy could face up to $2.8B in losses under the proposal.
- Strive argues BTC-focused firms are vital to AI infrastructure and structured finance, making the cutoff unfair.
In a letter addressed to MSCI chairman and CEO Henry Fernandez, the company warned that the proposal, which would exclude firms whose crypto holdings exceed 50% of total assets, risks shutting passive investors out of fast-growing corners of the market.
JPMorgan Warns Strategy Could Lose $2.8B Under MSCI Proposal
JPMorgan analysts recently cautioned that Strategy, a prominent Bitcoin treasury company included in the MSCI World Index, could face as much as $2.8 billion in losses if the exclusion moves forward.
Strategy’s chair, Michael Saylor, has confirmed that discussions with MSCI are ongoing as the company attempts to head off the decision.
Strive CEO Matt Cole argued that the proposal misunderstands the role large Bitcoin-focused firms play in emerging industries, particularly artificial intelligence.
He noted that miners such as MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, and Hut 8, all potential exclusion targets, are rapidly expanding into AI infrastructure by retooling data centers for high-intensity compute workloads.
“Many analysts argue that the AI race is increasingly limited by access to power, not semiconductors,” Cole wrote, adding that miners are uniquely positioned to meet those needs.
Even as AI revenue increases, he said, companies will continue holding sizable Bitcoin reserves, meaning MSCI’s exclusion would permanently wall off a sector positioned at the intersection of digital assets and next-generation computing.
Cole also pointed to the rising demand for Bitcoin-linked financial products. Firms such as Strategy and Metaplanet function similarly to banks offering structured BTC notes, providing equity-based access to Bitcoin performance without requiring investors to hold the asset directly.
Excluding these treasury companies, he argued, would give traditional financial institutions, including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, an uneven playing field, as index-linked capital would become biased against firms whose business models center on Bitcoin exposure.
Strive Says MSCI’s 50% Rule Would Cause Index “Whiplash”
Strive further challenged the practicality of MSCI’s 50% threshold, noting that tying index eligibility to a volatile asset would cause companies to drift in and out of benchmarks, increasing tracking errors for funds that follow them.
Cole highlighted Trump Media & Technology Group as an example. Despite holding one of the largest public Bitcoin treasuries, it narrowly avoided MSCI’s preliminary exclusion list because its BTC exposure currently sits just under the cutoff.
Instead of a blanket rule, Strive proposed a parallel “ex-digital asset treasury” version of MSCI’s indexes.
This would allow asset managers who wish to avoid crypto-heavy companies to do so, while others could maintain exposure to the full investable universe.
MSCI has not yet indicated whether it will revise its proposal, but industry pressure is mounting as treasury-heavy firms await a final decision.
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