If it fails that, it moves to an exclusion screen that uses five ratios – operating asset intensity, expense intensity, cash flow, fair value intensity, and capital dependence – to make the final call.
A company becomes ineligible for index inclusion if it fails four out of the five test ratios.
MSCI’s description of the so-called non-operating companies not fit for index inclusion reads like a checklist of bitcoin treasury firms without naming one.
Companies that “create value by accumulating and holding non-operating assets,” generate little cash from actual operations, and depend on outside capital rather than their own business to grow, MSCI explained. Companies not currently in the index face the stricter thresholds based on their latest single filing.
An earlier consultation, opened in October 2025, targeted “digital asset treasury” firms, specifically those holding 50% or more of assets in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. That proposal named 39 companies, triggering crypto market volatility and industry backlash. The proposal was ultimately deferred.
Nothing is decided yet
MSCI has invited feedback from market participants through Sept. 30, and the results will be announced roughly two weeks later, on Oct. 16.
It has said that any resulting changes would be folded into the November 2026 index review, if the proposal is adopted at all.
