The proposal led to boycott calls from major Bitcoin advocates, including Grant Cardone and Max Keiser, who accuse MSCI and JP Morgan of undermining companies that hold big Bitcoin reserves. Strategy founder Michael Saylor rejected MSCI’s classification, and argued his firm is a Bitcoin-backed structured finance company, not a passive investment vehicle. If the rule goes through, companies with more than 50% of their balance sheets in crypto would lose index eligibility and the passive capital that comes with it.
JP Morgan Faces Crypto Uprising
The backlash against JP Morgan intensified over the weekend when frustration surged in the Bitcoin community after news that MSCI, the influential index provider formerly known as Morgan Stanley Capital International, plans to exclude crypto treasury companies from its indexes beginning in January 2026. The proposal was shared in a JP Morgan research note, and led to a wave of criticism and boycott calls from Bitcoin advocates and retail supporters who argue that the decision could trigger damaging sell-offs and destabilize the crypto market.
The sentiment online quickly escalated. Real estate investor and outspoken Bitcoin supporter Grant Cardone said he already withdrew $20 million from Chase and intended to sue the bank over alleged credit card misconduct. Max Keiser amplified the boycott message by urging followers to “Crash JP Morgan and buy Strategy and BTC.”
Many in the Bitcoin community see the proposed exclusion policy as a direct attack on companies that hold large amounts of digital assets on their balance sheets, especially those seen as key pillars of the ecosystem.
MSCI’s proposed changes would apply to any company with 50% or more of its balance sheet in crypto assets. Such firms would no longer qualify for index inclusion, which could have severe knock-on effects. Index-tracking funds and asset managers, which are required to hold only approved financial instruments, would be forced to sell affected stocks automatically. The resulting sell pressure could greatly impact share prices of crypto treasury companies and potentially spill over into the digital asset markets themselves.
One of the most heavily affected firms could be Strategy, the Bitcoin-focused treasury company that was founded by Michael Saylor. After being added to the Nasdaq 100 in December of 2024, Strategy benefited from passive inflows tied to index funds.
Saylor pushed back hard against the MSCI proposal, and argued that the classification is fundamentally flawed. He explained that Strategy is “not a fund, not a trust, and not a holding company,” but rather a “Bitcoin-backed structured finance company” that actively creates, issues, and operates financial products.
According to Saylor, treating active Bitcoin treasury companies like passive investment entities misrepresents their function and penalizes innovation. Analysts warn that if the MSCI policy is finalized, the affected companies will face a difficult choice: either reduce their crypto exposure below the 50% threshold or sacrifice their index eligibility — and with it, crucial passive capital flows.
