Bitcoin-heavy treasury companies face a growing possibility of being removed from MSCI indexes.

On Oct. 16, blockchain media outlet Decrypt reported that MSCI, a global stock index provider, has finalised rules excluding non-operating companies from index inclusion. The rules will be reflected in the indexes after the close on Nov. 30.

The new standards focus on identifying companies that lack sufficient operating assets and are closer to passive investment vehicles than to operating businesses. MSCI will first review core requirements and then determine exclusion based on five financial ratios. If at least four of the five meet the exclusion criteria, the stock is classified as ineligible for index inclusion.

Strategy and Metaplanet are cited as being directly affected. Crypto accounts for a large share of their balance sheets. Strategy holds hundreds of thousands of bitcoins, and Metaplanet has also adopted a strategy of accumulating bitcoin as a core treasury asset. That is why some interpret MSCI's new rules as effectively targeting such single-asset-focused structures.

Removal is not decided based on a single review. Existing index constituents must be ruled ineligible in both of the most recent two annual disclosures to be excluded. New candidates, however, cannot enter the index if they are ruled ineligible even once in the most recent two disclosures. MSCI plans to disclose the final list of companies subject to the new rules on Nov. 11.

The move also ends a temporary measure applied last year. MSCI had deferred certain index adjustments for companies whose digital asset holdings account for at least 50 percent of total assets, but it will now evaluate all such companies under the new standards.

If removals materialise, downward pressure on the companies' share prices could increase. Funds tracking major MSCI indexes would have to sell the shares of removed stocks. If selling surges, share prices could fall, and the premium of corporate value over net asset value of the crypto holdings may also narrow.

Michael Saylor (마이클 세일러), who leads Strategy, criticised the rules as "discriminatory" and voiced opposition. He said the plan to exclude Strategy from benchmark indexes should be withdrawn. MSCI, however, finalised the rules with only some revisions while maintaining the broad framework of the draft it announced in August.

Companies are responding differently. Metaplanet recently sold 10,000 bitcoins and then bought back 11,000, seeking to show that it is actively managing its treasury assets. Strategy, by contrast, continued accumulating bitcoin under its existing strategy even after concerns about possible index removal surfaced.

That makes the list of affected companies to be released on Nov. 11 and the index changes to take effect on Nov. 30 key variables likely to influence share prices and fund flows for bitcoin treasury companies. The more a company depends on passive money tracking indexes, the heavier the supply-demand burden from removal could be, and market attention is expected to focus on the final list.