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The Crypto Black Friday catalyst that intensified Bitcoin’s October 2025 crash has resurfaced, with index provider MSCI opening a new consultation that could remove Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, from major global benchmarks.
The proposal, launched in August 2026, does not explicitly mention Bitcoin or digital assets. Instead, MSCI is considering a broader framework for determining whether companies with limited operating activity should remain eligible for its Global Investable Market Indexes. The proposed rules nevertheless flag several companies known for holding substantial non-operating assets, including Strategy, Japan’s Metaplanet and uranium-focused Yellow Cake.
The development is significant because of what happened during the Crypto Black Friday episode of October 10, 2025. At that time, MSCI proposed treating companies whose digital-asset holdings exceeded 50% of their total assets more like investment funds than conventional operating businesses.
Strategy, the world’s largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin, became the most prominent company caught in the proposed rule.
Analysts estimated that exclusion from MSCI-linked funds could have triggered roughly $2.8 billion in passive selling of Strategy shares. If other major index providers had adopted comparable rules, projected selling pressure could have reached as much as $8.8 billion.
The timing compounded an already severe market shock. Bitcoin had fallen more than $15,000 from its peak near $126,000, while approximately $19 billion in leveraged cryptocurrency positions were liquidated during the broader October sell-off.
The Crypto Black Friday crash was initially driven by factors including tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump and unusually high leverage. However, the MSCI proposal added another structural concern for investors and contributed to uncertainty surrounding Bitcoin’s corporate treasury ecosystem.
MSCI eventually withdrew the digital-asset-specific proposal in January 2026 following industry opposition, including objections from Strategy over how the company was being classified.
The latest proposal takes a different route.
Rather than targeting companies because they hold digital assets, MSCI is consulting on a framework aimed broadly at “non-operating companies.” Under the proposed methodology, a company would first be assessed based on the proportion of its total assets represented by operating assets.
Companies with operating assets below 50% would then face five additional quantitative tests. These examine operating-asset intensity, expense intensity, operating cash flow, exposure to fair-value changes and reliance on financing to accumulate assets.
A company that fails four of the five additional tests would become ineligible under the proposed framework.
That structure is important because it removes the direct focus on cryptocurrency. The methodology could affect businesses with substantial non-operating assets regardless of the specific asset class involved.
MSCI’s simulation using May 2026 data nevertheless produced familiar names. Strategy, Metaplanet and Yellow Cake were identified for potential deletion from the relevant index universe.
The proposed framework also contains a degree of protection for existing constituents. Companies would need to fail the requirements across two consecutive assessment periods before removal takes effect.
For investors who remember the Crypto Black Friday turmoil, however, the renewed prospect of index exclusion is significant even though the current methodology is broader.
Strategy has already responded publicly to the proposal, arguing that index providers should focus on measuring markets rather than determining what assets public companies are permitted to own.
“Index providers should measure markets rather than dictate corporate assets,” — Strategy, in its response to MSCI’s proposed index rules.
The immediate risk is centered on Strategy’s stock rather than Bitcoin itself.
If Strategy were removed from MSCI benchmarks, passive investment funds tracking those indexes could be required to sell their MSTR holdings. That would not automatically force Strategy to sell its Bitcoin.
The potential impact would instead operate through the relationship between Strategy’s share price and the value of its Bitcoin holdings.
Strategy has built much of its corporate strategy around using its equity and other financial instruments to raise capital and acquire additional Bitcoin. A weaker stock premium could make those capital-raising activities less efficient.
That creates a potential second-order effect for Bitcoin. If Strategy becomes less capable or less willing to raise capital for additional Bitcoin purchases, one of the market’s most prominent structural corporate buyers could become less aggressive.
The distinction is crucial. An MSCI exclusion would not mean that Bitcoin is being removed from an index. Nor would it automatically trigger a Bitcoin sale by Strategy.
Instead, the concern is that pressure on MSTR could weaken the financing mechanism that has helped Strategy accumulate Bitcoin.
That is why the Crypto Black Friday precedent continues to matter. The October 2025 episode demonstrated how a corporate-index classification decision can become part of a much wider market narrative when leveraged positions and fragile sentiment are already under pressure.
Bitcoin is now trading far below its October 2025 record, according to the figures cited in the original report, increasing the sensitivity of investors to developments involving major corporate holders.
The current MSCI consultation remains a proposal, not a final decision.
Market participants have until September 30, 2026, to submit feedback. MSCI is expected to announce the outcome by October 16, with any approved changes potentially taking effect as part of the November 2026 Index Review.
That timeline puts the next few months under close scrutiny for Strategy shareholders and Bitcoin investors alike.
Strategy has also made changes to its Bitcoin strategy, including selling some Bitcoin to strengthen its cash position. That shift means the company is no longer viewed simply through the lens of continuous Bitcoin accumulation.
For Bitcoin, the central question is therefore not whether MSCI can directly force a cryptocurrency sale. It cannot. The more relevant question is whether a change in index eligibility could weaken Strategy’s ability to use public markets as a source of financing.
“Neither Bitcoin nor Strategy needs MSCI,” — Strategy, in its response to the proposed index treatment.
The Crypto Black Friday episode showed how quickly an index-policy decision can become intertwined with broader market stress. The latest proposal is structurally different, but it again places Strategy at the center of a debate over whether companies dominated by large pools of non-operating assets should be treated differently by major equity benchmarks.
Whether the Crypto Black Friday pattern repeats will depend on several factors, including MSCI’s final methodology, the response from other index providers and the broader health of the cryptocurrency market.
For now, there is no confirmed exclusion. What exists is a consultation, a potential index change and a familiar corporate Bitcoin holder once again sitting at the center of the debate.
The key difference this time is that MSCI is not explicitly targeting Bitcoin companies. It is proposing a broader test for non-operating businesses — one that happens to produce similar results when applied to some of the market’s most prominent crypto treasury firms.
Primary sources: MSCI index review schedule · BeInCrypto original report · CoinDesk report on Strategy’s response
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