MSCI postpones DATCOs index adjustment, allowing companies holding Strategy and other digital assets to retain their holdings

【ChainNews】MSCI recently announced an important decision: it will temporarily not remove Digital Asset Treasury Companies (DATCOs) from its indices. In simple terms, publicly traded companies that allocate over 50% of their assets in digital assets—like Strategy—can continue to maintain their index membership.

This decision seems calm on the surface, but it reflects the complexity of the market behind the scenes. MSCI’s previous stance indeed raised concerns; if such companies were kicked out of the index, the impact on their stock prices would be obvious. But now, they have received a large amount of feedback from investors, discovering that some DATCOs are very similar to investment funds, which has left index maintainers a bit confused.

Therefore, the official plan is to put the controversy on hold and postpone the true classification work until February 2026. During this period, they intend to be more meticulous—conduct broader market consultations on the standards for defining non-operating asset companies. In other words, they want to listen to market participants’ voices and not rush to conclusions.

For those holding stocks of such companies, this is a relief. At least in the short term, policy risks have temporarily dissipated. But the questions left for enterprises and regulators are still significant: How to define the attributes of these new asset management companies? What standards should be used to evaluate them?