New York, Jan 7, 2026, 07:33 (EST) — Premarket
- MSCI said it will not move ahead with a plan to exclude “digital asset treasury” firms from its indexes, pending a broader review.
- Bitcoin slipped about 2% in early trade, weighing on crypto-linked stocks and spot bitcoin ETFs.
- Flows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs turned negative on Tuesday after a strong start to 2026, while ether ETFs stayed in the black.
MSCI said it will not proceed with a proposal to exclude digital asset treasury companies — firms whose digital asset holdings make up 50% or more of total assets — from its indexes, opting instead for a broader consultation on how non-operating companies should be treated.
That matters because index rules are not academic. Passive funds and benchmark trackers buy and sell when lists change, and the trade can spill into other crypto proxies fast.
The timing is awkward, too. The first-week bounce in crypto has cooled, and the mood has shifted from “flows are back” to “flows are fickle,” with equities reacting to every policy nudge.
Digital asset treasury companies, often called DATCOs, surged in popularity in 2025 as more firms held tokens such as bitcoin and ether as their main treasury assets. Clear Street analyst Owen Lau said the MSCI decision “removes a material near-term technical risk,” while JonesTrading strategist Mike O’Rourke added he suspects any exclusion has been “postponed until later in the year.” Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, reported this week a $17.44 billion fourth-quarter unrealized loss on digital assets tied to a decline in the value of its crypto stockpile. Reuters+1
Bitcoin fell 1.9% to about $91,974 and ether slipped 0.7% to $3,214, dragging the usual equity proxies with it. Strategy was down 4.1% in premarket trade, Coinbase fell 1.7%, and miners Marathon Digital and CleanSpark slid 2.6% and 2.4%; Riot Platforms bucked the tape, up about 1.3%. Among the biggest spot bitcoin ETFs, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s FBTC were down around 2%.
ETF flow data is still doing some of the steering. Farside Investors data showed U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs — funds that hold bitcoin directly, rather than futures — flipped to a net outflow of $243.2 million on Tuesday after a $697.2 million inflow on Monday. IBIT took in $228.7 million on Tuesday, but Fidelity’s FBTC saw $312.2 million leave; U.S. ether ETFs drew $114.7 million of net inflows the same day.
New competition is lining up in crypto funds as well. Morgan Stanley filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday for ETFs tied to the prices of bitcoin and solana, the first such move by a big U.S. bank; Morningstar ETF analyst Bryan Armour said a bank’s entry “adds legitimacy” and “others could follow.” Reuters
But MSCI’s pause is not a clean all-clear. If the index debate swings back toward treating crypto-heavy firms like quasi-funds, or bitcoin’s slide deepens, the same names that act like easy exposure can turn into forced de-risking.
Traders now turn to U.S. labor data, with ADP private payrolls due at 8:15 a.m. ET, the JOLTS openings report after the market opens, and Friday’s nonfarm payrolls on Jan. 9 — prints that can move rate-cut bets and, by extension, the appetite for high-beta trades like crypto stocks and ETFs.
