NEW YORK, Jan 7, 2026, 07:12 EST — Premarket
- Strategy shares rose in premarket trade after MSCI said it will keep “digital asset treasury companies” in its indexes for now
- MSCI will start a broader review of how it treats non-operating companies
- Traders are also watching U.S. labor data due later Wednesday and on Friday
Shares of Strategy rose about 4% in premarket trading on Wednesday after MSCI dropped a proposal that could have pushed the bitcoin-heavy company out of its benchmarks. “We suspect exclusion is postponed until later in the year,” JonesTrading chief market strategist Mike O’Rourke said. 1
The move matters because Strategy sits in a wide range of index-tracking portfolios. A removal from major indexes can force passive funds to sell, adding pressure to a stock that already trades like a high-volatility proxy for bitcoin.
MSCI’s decision also buys time for a fast-growing corner of the market: “digital asset treasury companies,” or DATCOs. MSCI defines them as firms whose digital asset holdings represent 50% or more of total assets, a structure that has drawn scrutiny over whether they behave more like operating companies or investment vehicles.
In a statement late Tuesday, MSCI said it will not implement its exclusion proposal as part of the February 2026 index review and will open a broader consultation on non-operating companies. For now, it said current index treatment for DATCOs on its preliminary list will remain unchanged, while it defers certain index-related changes for those securities. 2
Strategy fell 4.1% in the previous regular session to $157.97. Bitcoin was down about 2% on Wednesday morning, weighing on sentiment across crypto-linked equities.
Beyond the MSCI decision, traders are watching labor-market data that could reset bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts. “Further weakness would support rate-cut expectations,” Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya wrote, while stronger figures could “revive the hawks.” 3
But the relief may prove short-lived. MSCI’s broader review leaves open the possibility that some crypto-heavy companies end up treated more like funds than operating businesses, a shift that could revive forced-selling fears. Any fresh slide in bitcoin would add to the downside risk for Strategy’s shares.
