Bitcoin For Corporations (BFC), with support from its member institutions, has strongly opposed MSCI’s proposal to exclude companies holding 50% or more of their total assets in digital assets from MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes. This proposal specifically targets firms primarily engaged in treasury activities involving digital assets. BFC argues that the proposal misidentifies operating companies by focusing on asset balances rather than revenue-generating business activities. George Mikhail, BFC’s Managing Director, emphasized that MSCI has traditionally classified companies based on their business operations, not solely on asset holdings, and cautioned against prioritizing treasury decisions approved by shareholders over operational realities.
The proposal raises three main concerns: it redefines a company’s core business based on asset composition rather than income sources; it treats digital assets differently by isolating them from other assets; and it links index inclusion to volatile market prices, potentially causing unpredictable membership changes. BFC warned that implementing this proposal could lead to passive fund withdrawals, increased capital costs, and heightened market volatility unrelated to actual company performance. The group has urged MSCI to rescind the threshold, maintain classification based on operations, ensure asset class neutrality, and collaborate with market participants to develop a business-oriented framework.
Meanwhile, Strive Asset Management, a major corporate Bitcoin holder, also petitioned MSCI to reconsider the proposal, highlighting that differences between US GAAP and IFRS accounting standards could lead to inconsistent and uncertain outcomes. Strive criticized the 50% Bitcoin threshold as “unreasonable and impractical,” warning it could drive innovation offshore. Among the most affected companies is Strategy, a technology and Bitcoin-focused software firm whose chairman, Michael Saylor, clarified that the company operates active business divisions with software and Bitcoin-backed financial products rather than functioning as a fund or holding company.
MSCI is expected to make its final decision early next year, which will clarify whether it will continue classifying companies based on operations and uphold asset class neutrality.
Source: bitcoinmagazine
