Briefly
- MSCI stated it is not going to change the index therapy for digital-asset treasury firms in its February 2026 overview.
- Preliminary session flagged investor considerations that some DATs look like funding autos quite than working companies.
- Shares of Technique rose after the choice eased the near-term danger of compelled index-driven promoting.
World index supplier MSCI has deferred a call on whether or not to vary the way it treats firms with vital digital asset publicity, sustaining the established order after a session that raised questions round classification, steadiness sheet volatility, and index development.
Outcomes of the overview revealed Tuesday coated so-called digital asset treasury firms, or DATCOs, a class that features companies whose steadiness sheets are closely weighted towards holdings resembling Bitcoin or different crypto belongings.
Its overview “confirmed institutional investor concern that some DATCOs exhibit traits much like funding funds, which aren’t eligible for inclusion” for its indices, the assertion reads.
The choice preserves index eligibility for digital-asset treasury and infrastructure companies for now, however leaves open how such firms could in the end be handled in international fairness benchmarks.
It additionally examined whether or not these firms nonetheless meet the definition of working companies for index functions, or whether or not their asset publicity makes them extra carefully resemble funding autos underneath current index guidelines.
“DATCOs could characterize a subset of a wider group of entities whose enterprise actions are predominantly investment-oriented quite than operational,” the assertion reads.
MSCI stated the session outcomes apply to its February 2026 Index Evaluation, confirming that no adjustments to the index therapy of digital asset treasury firms will probably be applied in that cycle.
The choice means DATCOs at present included in MSCI’s international indexes will stay eligible by way of the overview, offered they proceed to satisfy all different inclusion necessities.
Technique, which pioneered the mannequin for digital asset treasury firms, referred to as the choice “a powerful consequence for impartial indexing and financial actuality.”
Shares of MSTR climbed roughly 6.9% to $168.7 in after-hours buying and selling following the MSCI deferral, per Yahoo Finance information.
Final yr, Wall Road noticed a surge in public firms adopting crypto treasury methods, elevating fairness and debt to build up digital belongings as balance-sheet reserves.
What started with Technique’s aggressive Bitcoin shopping for broadened as different companies pursued related approaches, positioning company steadiness sheets as a automobile for institutional crypto publicity.
Because the development expanded, these digital asset treasury firms attracted robust investor curiosity, with some buying and selling at premiums tied extra to token holdings than working efficiency. Later within the yr, these premiums narrowed as crypto volatility and sustainability considerations set in.
The cycle shifted from speedy adoption to reassessment, leaving regulators, index suppliers, and buyers debating whether or not crypto treasury companies characterize an enduring company mannequin or a market-specific section.
