Strive urges MSCI to abandon plans to cut BTC cash companies

Strive has urged MSCI to rethink a proposal to remove Bitcoin cash companies from its indexes, warning that it would reduce investor access to “the fastest-growing part of the global economy.”

Strive was responding to MSCI’s decision to consider excluding companies with more than 50% of their assets in crypto from benchmark eligibility. A decision is expected on January 15.

Strive, the 14th largest listed BTC treasury companysaid in a letter to CEO Henry Fernandez that the threshold is also “unachievable,” arguing that Bitcoin’s volatility would constantly push companies above and below the limit.

MSCI had said that many investors view digital asset treasury companies more as funds than operating businesses, which would make them ineligible for inclusion in MSCI’s stock indexes.

The letter comes as analysts warn that the removal of companies such as Strategy, Metaplanet and others from stock indexes will be a major blow to the crypto industry.

JPMorgan said the removal of Strategy could trigger up to $2.8 billion in capital outflows for the Bitcoin buyer’s stocks, with a risk of up to $12 billion if other index providers follow MSCI’s lead.

Big Bitcoin Companies Play Major Role in AI Boom

Matt Cole, CEO of Strive rejected MSCI’s view that large crypto treasury companies represented investment funds and highlighted how Bitcoin miners, who often have large amounts of BTC on their balance sheets, are helping to facilitate the AI ​​boom through their excess energy and infrastructure.

– Matt Cole (@ColeMacro) December 5, 2025

“Some of the companies with the largest Bitcoin holdings are miners who are becoming major AI infrastructure providers,” Cole said.

“All of these miners are rapidly diversifying their data centers to provide power and infrastructure for AI computing,” he added. “But even if AI revenue comes, their Bitcoin will remain, and so will your exclusion, reducing customer participation in the fastest-growing part of the global economy.”

Top 20 BTC DATs (Source: Bitcoin Treasures)

Cole also said that several Bitcoin miners have recently become “suppliers of choice for the computing needs of tech giants, and that these companies are “ideally positioned” to meet the growing demand for power from AI companies.

BTC structured financing is growing

Cole also said that removing crypto treasury companies would eliminate companies that offer investors a product similar to a variety of structured notes linked to Bitcoin returns that are currently offered by traditional financial giants such as JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

“Bitcoin structured finance is as real a business for us as it is for JPMorgan,” he said. “It would be asymmetric for us to compete with traditional financiers weighed down by a higher cost of capital due to penalties from passive index providers on the very Bitcoin that enables our offerings.”

50% threshold “unachievable”

Cole expanded on his claim that MSCI’s 50% threshold is “unachievable.” in practice.”

“Linking index inclusion to a numerical threshold for assets known to be volatile could result in more frequent turnover of funds referenced to MSCI products,” he wrote.

According to Cole, this would increase management costs and increase the risk of tracking errors, as firms “move in and out of funds in proportion to the volatility of their holdings.”

Besides the increase in management and tracking errors, the Strive CEO said it will also be difficult to measure when a company’s stakes reach 50%.

“There are a growing variety of instruments through which companies obtain this exposure, many of which are complex,” the CEO said.

“If a company owns Bitcoin structured products like those of JPMorgan or Strategy, does that count towards the 50%? » he asked. “Would this vary by product, or would instruments other than cash holdings offer easy ways to avoid MSCI’s rule? »

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