Bitcoin Policy Institute Questions MSCI's Rules Excluding Bitcoin Reserve Companies

The Bitcoin Policy Institute has released a report titled "Wall Street's Invisible Committee," questioning MSCI's proposed adjustments to index inclusion rules that may exclude certain Bitcoin reserve companies (Digital Asset Treasury Companies, DATCOs). The institute points out that the indices managed by MSCI involve approximately $21 trillion in benchmark assets, and changes in the rules could lead to funds tracking these indices adjusting their holdings, resulting in a large-scale reallocation of capital. The Bitcoin Policy Institute mentions that MSCI had previously proposed excluding digital asset reserve companies in 2025, but execution was postponed due to opposition. This year, MSCI has reintroduced classification standards targeting "non-operating companies," with simulations indicating that this rule could exclude companies like Strategy and Metaplanet. The institute discovered that MSCI's public consultation documents contained internal file paths labeled "Projects/DATCOs/Operating vs Non Operating," raising questions about whether the rule is designed specifically for digital asset companies. Nevertheless, the Bitcoin Policy Institute acknowledges that metadata alone cannot prove MSCI's pre-set exclusion outcomes. Additionally, the institute notes that MSCI published an article in 2021 discussing the impact of crypto assets on the stock market and focusing on corporate exposure to crypto assets. The Bitcoin Policy Institute believes that the "operating assets" standard MSCI intends to adopt lacks a clear classification framework, which could affect companies in emerging industries, and calls for greater transparency and repeatability in the index formulation process. The contents of the report represent the views of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, and MSCI has not yet responded to this report.

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