MSCI’s New Test Could Redefine What Counts as a Crypto Treasury Company

• MSCI proposes new financial rules that could remove crypto treasury firms from major global indexes.
• The framework targets “non-operating companies” using asset, cash flow, and capital reliance metrics. 
• At least three firms face deletion, while others like SharpLink are placed on a watchlist. 

MSCI is proposing a new financial test that could strip several crypto treasury companies from its widely tracked global stock indexes, replacing an earlier crypto-specific threshold with a broader set of ratios applied to any company holding non-operating assets.

The index provider’s consultation paper, released in August, moves away from a simple percentage cap on digital-asset holdings. Instead, it introduces a five-part financial screen designed to identify “Non-Operating Companies” regardless of what asset they hold, whether crypto, gold, or private equity stakes.

Applied to MSCI’s ACWI IMI Index using May 2026 filings, the new methodology would already trigger three deletions: Strategy, Yellow Cake PLC, and Metaplanet. Three more companies, including Ethereum treasury firm SharpLink, would land on a newly created public watchlist.

Why The Shift

MSCI said a single balance-sheet metric failed to reliably separate active operating businesses from passive investment vehicles that happen to hold crypto. Market feedback suggested that targeting crypto specifically risked looking like policy bias rather than principled index construction.

The new framework applies uniformly across asset types. It runs in two steps:

• Core Screen: a company qualifies as operating if more than 50% of its total assets are operating assets. Companies that clear this bar face no further review.
• Exclusion Screen: companies that fail the Core Screen are tested against five ratios: operating asset intensity, expense intensity, cash flow, fair value intensity, and capital dependence. Failing four of the five results in ineligibility.

To limit index turnover, MSCI proposes buffers for existing constituents, allowing looser thresholds and requiring two consecutive years of failure before removal. New applicants face stricter, single-year thresholds.

Capital Dependence Problem

Analysts say the capital dependence ratio poses the clearest risk to crypto treasury companies, whose business model typically involves raising external capital to fund crypto purchases.

That model carries specific vulnerabilities in a downturn:

• Financing tends to dry up when it’s needed most, as lenders retreat during price declines
• Borrowing costs rise as credit tightens during market stress
• Companies may be forced to sell crypto holdings at a loss to cover expenses or debt
• Raising cash through new share issuance dilutes existing shareholders

MSCI applies the capital dependence ratio identically to current index members and new applicants, unlike the other four ratios, where existing companies receive more lenient thresholds. That consistency suggests MSCI views financing reliance as the most direct indicator of a company that grows through outside capital rather than its own operations.

SharpLink’s Grace Period

Among the six flagged companies, SharpLink’s placement on the watchlist, rather than the deletion list, is drawing particular attention from the sector.

The distinction matters because SharpLink failed the screen based on only its latest filing. Under the proposal, deletion requires failing two consecutive annual reviews, giving the company roughly a year to demonstrate its Ethereum staking activity generates sufficient operating substance.

That sets up a test case with implications beyond SharpLink itself:

• Unlike passive Bitcoin trusts that simply hold an asset, SharpLink stakes its ETH holdings to generate yield
• Whether that activity counts as “operating” in MSCI’s framework could establish a precedent for how staking-based treasury models are treated versus pure accumulation strategies
• Other treasury companies are likely watching the outcome as a template for restructuring their own operations

A New Dividing Line

The proposal effectively forces a distinction the market has largely avoided making explicit: the difference between a company using crypto as a treasury asset alongside a functioning business, and a company whose primary activity is accumulating crypto financed by outside capital.

If adopted, the change would carry real consequences beyond classification. Index inclusion drives passive fund flows; exclusion means outflows from funds tracking MSCI’s benchmarks.

The proposal is currently under consultation, with feedback open until September 30, 2026. MSCI is expected to announce its decision by October 16, with any changes taking effect in the November 2026 Index Review. 

Related: Bitcoin Slips As Strategy Jumps Despite Negative MSCI Rule