In a report published on November 11, 2026, at 20:06 Beijing time, TechFlow said MSCI was due to release its final routine index-review list after the US market close that day, at 17:00 Eastern time (06:00 Beijing time on November 12). Strategy’s removal had not been confirmed at the time of the report.
Five digital-asset treasury companies were on an initial removal watchlist, including Japan-listed Metaplanet, which held about 44,000 bitcoin. TechFlow said Strategy accounted for more than 90% of the affected group’s free-float market value.
The rule and the potential stock outflow
MSCI’s October 2025 consultation proposed removing companies whose digital assets represented at least 50% of total assets from its Global Investable Market Indexes and pausing weight increases for affected companies. Its rule finalized on October 15, 2026, instead uses a non-operating-entity assessment: a company must fail an operating-assets test in two consecutive annual reports and fall short on four of five measures covering operating assets, expenses and cash flow, among other factors.
Strategy argued in a submission to MSCI that this classification lacked a basis in generally accepted accounting standards. It also disclosed the risk of index removal under the new parameters in its third-quarter filing with the SEC.
Research firm Solid Intel estimated that removal from MSCI’s flagship indexes could prompt up to $2.8 billion in sales by passive tracking funds. TechFlow also cited Crypto Briefing’s account of a JPMorgan analyst estimate of roughly $2.8 billion in MSTR share reductions. The larger $8.8 billion figure is conditional: it assumes other major index providers adopt similar rules. These are estimates of potential share sales, not observed outflows.
Shares and bitcoin are separate exposures
According to Bitcoin Magazine, Strategy had recently raised $283.8 million through at-the-market share issuance to buy 1,036 bitcoin and retained $4.77 billion in US-dollar reserves. As of November 8, 2026, it held 850,364 bitcoin at a total cost of $64.16 billion, or an average of $75,456 per bitcoin.
Index funds selling MSTR shares would not, by itself, require custodians to sell Strategy’s bitcoin. The market question is instead whether reduced share liquidity or a narrower premium to net asset value would limit the economics of future share issuance to fund bitcoin purchases.
Source: techflowpost.com (originally published 2026-11-11 20:06 UTC+8)
