MSCI Is Removing Strategy, Holder of 850,364 Bitcoin, From Its Indexes. Will Saylor Have to Sell BTC?
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
MSCI (NYSE:MSCI | MSCI Price Prediction) has announced it’s removing Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) and several other companies from its global indexes. This decision is based on the view that these companies resemble investment funds more than traditional operating businesses. MSCI builds the stock indexes that many index funds copy, so the decision reaches the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC).
Strategy held 850,364 Bitcoin as of November 8, 2026, at an average purchase price of $75,456 per coin, according to its November 9 8-K filing. Bitcoin is trading at around $71,300, down 3.9% in the last 24 hours, which puts Strategy’s Bitcoin at approximately $60.6 billion. Strategy’s shares fell 6.7% to $114 in the session and are down 19.9% over the past week. So could MSCI’s decision force Strategy to sell its Bitcoin?
MSCI Drops Strategy at the November 30 Close, So Index Funds Must Sell Shares
In October, MSCI announced that non-operating companies would no longer qualify for its Global Investable Market Indexes, effective at the close of November 30. The final list included Strategy among the removals, a risk we highlighted when MSCI first challenged its status. Since index funds hold whatever their benchmark lists, funds tracking MSCI’s indexes must now sell their shares of Strategy to other investors.
This selling transfers ownership of Strategy stock but does not affect the company’s Bitcoin holdings, since index funds own only shares of Strategy, not the coins it holds. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) estimated this removal could lead to about $2.8 billion in selling of Strategy shares. That estimate comes from a November 2025 report on a previous MSCI proposal, as we explained in our breakdown of JPMorgan’s estimate.
JPMorgan also projected additional selling of up to $8.8 billion if other index providers make similar decisions. However, MSCI’s decision covers only its own indexes, so that larger figure would require separate decisions from other index providers.
Strategy’s financial results lend credence to MSCI’s view of it as a fund. Its analytics software generated $125 million in revenue in the third quarter, but its profit came from a $20.9 billion gain on its digital assets.
A Lower Share Price Could Slow Strategy’s Bitcoin Buying Long Before Any Forced Sale
Strategy primarily funds its Bitcoin purchases by selling new stock through an at-the-market program, which gradually sells shares into the market. In the third quarter, this program raised $5.41 billion net. However, a declining share price means each new share buys less Bitcoin, and the stock is down 24.9% year to date.
Strategy has already sold some of its Bitcoin. Through the third quarter, it sold about $432 million of Bitcoin to cover preferred dividends and repurchase preferred stock, which we covered when the biggest buyer started selling. The board has also approved the sale of up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin to fund its USD Reserve. The board approved that before MSCI’s announcement, and preferred dividends alone cost $420 million in the third quarter.
Cash reserves give Strategy a buffer against any forced Bitcoin sales. On November 8, its USD Reserve stood at $4.77 billion, and Strategy said in a post on X that its dollar assets cover 3.4 years of interest and dividends. However, the current portion of its long-term debt, the part due within a year, rose to $1.05 billion at the end of the third quarter.
Bitcoin’s price is about 5.5% below Strategy’s average cost of $75,456, raising the question of how long Saylor can go without selling. Bitcoin has also fallen below its 200-day moving average of $73,125, about 3% higher, and is down 18.6% this year. Strategy’s BTC Yield, which tracks Bitcoin owned per share, stood at negative 3.7% for the year through the third quarter.
Will Saylor Be Forced to Sell Bitcoin Because of MSCI’s Decision?
No. MSCI’s removal forces index funds to sell their Strategy shares, but it doesn’t require Strategy to sell any of its Bitcoin. For Bitcoin investors, the greater concern is a slowdown in future purchases, since a falling share price could push Strategy’s management to pause buying even while it keeps all its coins. Saylor and CEO Phong Le host an investor Q&A on November 19, the first insight into their plans since the decision.
Strategy’s weekly 8-K filings after the November 30 close could reveal more. If its Bitcoin sales surpass its dividend obligations or exceed the $1.25 billion authorization, the pressure from MSCI’s exit has reached Bitcoin. And if Strategy starts its $1 billion common stock buyback, unused as of its third-quarter report, it could put cash toward buying stock rather than Bitcoin, which could slow its purchases further.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
