Bitcoin has faced challenges in gaining upward momentum, despite receiving what many considered positive news from MSCI. The financial services firm recently affirmed that companies involved in digital assets treasury (DATs), such as Strategy, would continue to be included in its global indexes. While this development alleviated concerns about potential aggressive selling of Bitcoin by these firms, the cryptocurrency”s price remained stagnant, leading to confusion among investors.
So, what explains the lack of a price surge for BTC? According to updates from MSCI, the organization confirmed that Bitcoin treasury companies like Strategy would retain their positions in its indexes. However, the anticipated rally did not materialize. This can be attributed to significant changes in MSCI“s approach to share issuance. Previously, companies like Strategy would issue new shares, and those shares would automatically be incorporated into the MSCI indexes, prompting index funds to buy a portion of these new shares. For instance, if Strategy issued 10 million new shares, MSCI would require index funds to purchase 10% of them, resulting in considerable automatic buying pressure.
With Strategy potentially raising $300 million through such shares, they could reinvest this capital into purchasing more Bitcoin, thus providing indirect support for the cryptocurrency”s price. However, the new rules from MSCI have changed this dynamic significantly. Under the revised regulations, when Strategy issues additional shares, MSCI will not adjust the index share count accordingly. Consequently, index funds are no longer obligated to acquire extra shares, effectively removing a substantial source of automatic demand that previously funneled money into both Strategy and Bitcoin.
This shift means that Strategy will now depend on private buyers, who are often hesitant to pay premium prices, which could lead to less capital being available for Bitcoin purchases.
On a more positive note, institutional interest in Bitcoin remains robust. Notably, Morgan Stanley has recently submitted a registration request to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF, adding to the expanding roster of Wall Street firms venturing into the cryptocurrency space. Additionally, Bitcoin ETFs began 2026 on a promising note, attracting nearly $1 billion in new inflows within the first week. Current data suggests that over $100 billion is already invested across U.S. Bitcoin ETFs, with BlackRock“s iShares Bitcoin Trust managing approximately $67 billion.
