New York, Jan 6, 2026, 17:39 EST — After-hours
Strategy Inc (MSTR) shares rose 5.1% to $166 in after-hours trading on Tuesday after MSCI said it would not implement a proposal to exclude “digital asset treasury companies” — firms that hold large crypto positions on their balance sheets — from its global stock indexes. MSCI said companies with digital asset holdings representing 50% or more of total assets would keep their current index treatment for now, while it opens a broader review of non-operating firms and freezes some inputs used to set index weights. Strategy closed down 4.1% at $157.97 and traded as low as $154.05 in the regular session before swinging between $157.51 and $172.50 after the bell. MSCI+1
The MSCI call matters because a removal from big benchmarks can force passive funds to sell, adding pressure to a stock that already trades as a volatile proxy for bitcoin. JPMorgan estimated in December that an exclusion could pull $2.8 billion from MSCI-linked funds alone, and as much as $8.8 billion if other index providers followed, though Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor said, “It won’t make any difference, in my opinion.”
Debate over Strategy’s index status has tracked its shift from enterprise software toward bitcoin accumulation, a strategy it began in 2020. “If MSTR is deemed to be a holding company or a cryptocurrency company rather than its legacy software business, it is susceptible to removal,” Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, told Reuters last month.
In a Jan. 5 regulatory filing, Strategy said it bought 1,283 bitcoin for $116 million from Jan. 1-4, lifting holdings to 673,783 bitcoin at an average purchase price of $75,026. The company said the purchases were funded by proceeds from its at-the-market share-sale program — a facility that lets firms sell stock into the market over time — including 735,000 shares sold for $116.3 million in net proceeds, after raising $195.9 million in the final three days of 2025. The filing also flagged a $17.44 billion fourth-quarter unrealized loss on digital assets and said Strategy maintained a $2.25 billion U.S. dollar reserve to help cover preferred dividends and interest on its debt.
Bitcoin was down 1.3% at about $93,089, keeping the broader crypto complex sensitive to shifts in risk appetite even as equity benchmarks posted fresh records on Tuesday.
Other crypto-treasury names moved on the MSCI news, with Bitmine Immersion shares up 3.5% after hours, according to Investing.com.
The rebound does not erase the core risk for Strategy holders: its balance sheet and headline results can swing sharply with bitcoin, and its funding model relies on continued access to capital markets. A renewed slide in the token, or tighter financing conditions, would likely bring dilution and leverage concerns back to the fore.
Next up, investors will watch the U.S. December nonfarm payrolls report due Friday for cues on rates and risk appetite, and Strategy’s quarterly results, expected around Feb. 4.
