MicroStrategy sends sharp warning letter to MSCI

Billionaire tech leader Michael Saylor-led Bitcoin (BTC) treasury firm MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), now Strategy, has finally written to Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) over the potential exclusion from the MSCI USA Index.

Strategy, a software company founded in 1989, turned to Bitcoin amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and has since accumulated 660,624 BTC to become the world's largest corporate Bitcoin treasury.

However, the acquisition of digital assets on the company's balance sheet has hardly pleased the traditionalists, especially after the recent crypto market crash.

What MSCI index exclusion means for Strategy

At first, it was JPMorgan Chase that warned last month that Strategy risks getting delisted from major equity indices, including the MSCI USA Index.

The MSCI USA Index is a popular stock market benchmark that tracks the performance of large-cap and mid-cap U.S. companies, representing about 85% of the U.S. stock market.

Strategy’s net asset value (mNAV), a metric that calculates the ratio of enterprise value to Bitcoin per-share value, has veered toward 1x. It means the company's stock is now trading almost exactly at the value of its BTC holdings, with a negligible premium.

Related: Michael Saylor responds to JPMorgan’s MSCI delisting warning

MSCI has been mulling whether public companies with more than 50% of the assets on their balance sheets dedicated to digital assets should make it to traditional stock indexes.

If it goes ahead with the plan, Strategy could be the first casualty of the index re-evaluation.

As reported earlier, both MSCI and Strategy are engaged in talks regarding the raging controversy.

Strategy calls MSCI's proposal 'misguided'

On Dec. 10, Strategy founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor shared a letter written on behalf of Strategy to the members of the MSCI Equity Index Committee in which the company called the proposal to exclude companies with balance sheets consisting of more than 50% digital assets "misguided."

Strategy has submitted its response to MSCI’s consultation on digital asset treasury companies. Index standards should be neutral, consistent, and reflective of global market evolution. Read our letter and share your support: https://t.co/yiPRYyw5Lk

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) December 10, 2025

The decision could have "profoundly harmful consequences," the letter warned.

Strategy criticized MSCI for characterizing digital asset treasuries like Strategy as investment funds instead of operating companies.

"Strategy is an operating business that actively uses the Bitcoin it holds to create returns for shareholders."

Unlike an investment fund, Strategy has the operational flexibility to adapt its strategies as the Bitcoin technology evolves, it added.

MSCI's 50% threshold 'discriminatory, arbitrary, and unworkable'

In the letter, the company called the 50% threshold on digital asset holdings "discriminatory, arbitrary, and unworkable." Other industries like oil, timber, gold, real estate, etc., similarly concentrate their holdings in a single asset type, it argued.

The proposal's allegedly discriminatory approach towards one asset type raises concerns about the neutrality of MSCI’s indices, Strategy wrote in the letter.

In addition, the Bitcoin proxy said the MSCI's proposal would end up stifling investment in the growing digital asset industry, in direct conflict with the pro-innovation policies of the current U.S. administration.

More News:

• Former Trump ally praises Michael Saylor's new Bitcoin move
• Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy moves billions in Bitcoin
• Analyst downgrades MicroStrategy amid higher dilution

Leading Bitcoin treasury asks MSCI to reject proposal

Strategy urged MSCI to reject the proposal to exclude digital asset treasuries in a "rushed and reactionary" manner.

"MSCI should allow time for the digital asset industry and DATs to evolve and gain their footing before proposing broad-stroke rules and criteria."

The company said that if MSCI is still inclined to treat digital asset treasuries differently, it should engage in further consultations with the industry.

The letter, signed by Saylor and Strategy President and CEO Phong Le, ended with a plea to MSCI to choose the wiser course of remaining "neutral" and let the markets decide the course of digital asset treasuries.

Bitcoin was trading at $91,960.10 at press time, rather flat since the last day. Meanwhile, the MSTR stock was exchanging hands at $186.46 at the time of writing, down 1.34% in a day.

Related: Andrew Tate questions after MicroStrategy fails to move Bitcoin