Strive Urges MSCI to Scrap Proposal Excluding Major BTC Holders

Core Viewpoint - Strive, a significant public holder of Bitcoin, is opposing MSCI's proposal to exclude companies with substantial digital-asset exposure from its global indexes, arguing it could hinder passive investors from accessing rapidly growing market segments [1][10]. Group 1: MSCI Proposal and Its Implications - MSCI's plan aims to exclude firms whose crypto holdings exceed 50% of total assets, which Strive warns could limit investor access to key growth sectors [3][10]. - JPMorgan analysts have indicated that the exclusion could lead to losses of up to $2.8 billion for Strategy, a Bitcoin treasury company included in the MSCI World Index [4][10]. Group 2: Role of Bitcoin-Focused Firms - Strive's CEO, Matt Cole, contends that large Bitcoin-focused firms are crucial for emerging industries like artificial intelligence, as they are retooling data centers for high-intensity compute workloads [5][10]. - Cole emphasizes that miners are uniquely positioned to meet the increasing power demands of AI, and that companies will continue to hold significant Bitcoin reserves even as AI revenue grows [6]. Group 3: Financial Products and Market Dynamics - There is a rising demand for Bitcoin-linked financial products, with firms like Strategy and Metaplanet providing equity-based access to Bitcoin performance without requiring direct asset ownership [7]. - Excluding treasury companies could create an uneven playing field for traditional financial institutions, as index-linked capital would become biased against Bitcoin-centric business models [8]. Group 4: Practicality of MSCI's 50% Rule - Strive challenges the practicality of MSCI's 50% threshold, arguing that linking index eligibility to a volatile asset could lead to companies frequently drifting in and out of benchmarks, increasing tracking errors for funds [9][10].