Strive urges MSCI to ‘let the market decide’ on Bitcoin treasury companies

2 days ago7 min read2 comments

In a move that cuts to the very heart of the ongoing institutional tussle over Bitcoin’s legitimacy, asset manager Strive has thrown down a gauntlet to index giant MSCI. Their core argument is as blunt as it is compelling: stop trying to referee the game and just let the market decide.The specific flashpoint is MSCI’s recent consultation on whether to adjust the weightings of companies holding Bitcoin on their treasuries within its influential global indexes. Strive’s counter-argument, that this proposal is fundamentally flawed and could create a chaotic patchwork of outcomes, isn’t just a technical quibble—it’s a full-throated defense of Bitcoin’s sovereignty in the face of legacy financial gatekeeping.The heart of the issue lies in the global accounting muddle. Under U.S. GAAP, companies like MicroStrategy must treat Bitcoin as an intangible asset with indefinite life, subject to brutal impairment charges if the price drops, but never allowed to mark up gains until sale.Meanwhile, under IFRS, there’s more flexibility, with some jurisdictions permitting fair value accounting. This isn’t a minor discrepancy; it’s a chasm.Strive rightly points out that any MSCI rule based on accounting treatment would instantly create a two-tiered world. A U.S. company aggressively accumulating BTC would be penalized for the accounting impairments, while a European firm with an identical balance sheet might not be.The result? A distorted index that reflects arbitrary accounting rules rather than genuine market conviction or economic reality. This is where Strive’s maximalist-adjacent philosophy shines through.Their stance implies a deep-seated distrust of intermediaries imposing their own subjective frameworks on a decentralized asset. It’s the essence of the Bitcoin ethos: the network’s security and the market’s price discovery are the only arbiters that matter.By urging MSCI to step back, Strive is advocating for a purer form of capitalism where investors, not index committees, assess the value and risk of corporate Bitcoin adoption. The consequences of MSCI getting this wrong are profound.These indexes guide hundreds of billions in passive investment. An unfair penalization of Bitcoin-holding companies could stifle corporate adoption just as it’s gaining momentum, creating a chilling effect where CFOs fear index exclusion more than they desire sound money on their balance sheet.It would hand a veto on financial innovation to legacy accounting bodies, many of which are still playing catch-up. Furthermore, it could Balkanize markets, pushing Bitcoin-heavy companies to seek listings in jurisdictions with friendlier accounting—and thus index—treatment, undermining the very global standards MSCI seeks to uphold.

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