Bitcoin Dodges the Axe: Strategy Survives First Nasdaq 100 Reshuffle

Bitcoin's institutional play just passed its first major stress test—and didn't get cut.

The Rebalance That Didn't Bite

Market watchers held their breath as the Nasdaq 100 underwent its scheduled reshuffle. The big question: would Bitcoin-linked strategies be the first on the chopping block in a cooling market? The answer, for now, is a resounding no. The flagship cryptocurrency's calculated positioning within the index framework proved more resilient than the skeptics predicted.

Institutional Endurance, Not Just Hype

This wasn't about retail frenzy or meme-coin magic. This was a cold, hard look at protocol, correlation, and risk metrics—the kind of scrutiny that sends weaker assets packing. Bitcoin's infrastructure held. Its narrative as a macro asset, distinct from pure tech speculation, gave it the staying power that pure-play tech stocks sometimes lack. A welcome change from the usual 'number go up' theology that dominates crypto Twitter.

A New Benchmark for Legitimacy

Surviving this first institutional filter is more than a symbolic win. It sets a precedent. It signals to other index providers and traditional fund managers that crypto-native strategies can be evaluated, compartmentalized, and integrated without blowing up the model. It moves the conversation from 'if' to 'how.' Of course, on Wall Street, a precedent just means everyone will try to replicate it with more leverage and lower fees until the next crisis.

The Road Ahead: More Scrutiny, Less Anonymity

Don't mistake this for a free pass. The escape from this initial sorting is a ticket to a far more demanding game. The spotlight is brighter, the compliance checks are stricter, and the expectations are now squarely in the realm of quarterly performance. Bitcoin's strategy didn't just escape the chopping block—it graduated to the big leagues, where the only thing sharper than the gains are the knives in the boardroom.

In brief

• Strategy stays in the Nasdaq 100 despite its Bitcoin-heavy model
• The market remains skeptical as the stock keeps falling
• MSCI may exclude it from major indices in January 2026.

An index that cuts, Strategy that stays

Trading volumes drop while the market stalls. In this context, the Nasdaq 100 moved, and not timidly: six exits (Biogen, CDW, GlobalFoundries, Lululemon, ON Semiconductor, Trade Desk) and six entries (Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Ferrovial, Insmed, Monolithic Power Systems, Seagate, Western Digital), with changes effective on December 22, 2025.

In this little game, Strategy stands out as a UFO. Tech by origin, “bitcoin treasury” at heart since 2020, the company sometimes looks more like a market vehicle than a traditional operating firm. This is precisely what makes its retention notable: the index did not “punish” its model, at least for this rebalancing.

Yet, the market did not applaud. The stock closed the session down (-3.74% according to reported figures), and the share drags a sliding slope over the last month. Staying in the index is not enough to calm nerves when bitcoin breathes stronger than your historical business.

A bitcoin treasure that turns heads… and rules

The heart of the matter is the size of the vault. Strategy is today the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, and continues to stack. Latest example: 10,624 BTC bought for about 962.7 million dollars in early December, bringing the total to 660,624 BTC, valued around 60 billion according to market estimates.

At this level, the company almost becomes an equation: “value = bitcoin + premium (or discount) + financing structure.” This is where the question tightens: are we still talking about an operating company, or a quasi-quoted fund with a software veneer?

This is exactly the debate that arises at MSCI. The index provider is examining the possibility of excluding companies whose crypto assets exceed 50% of the total from indices, with a decision expected in January (with a date mentioned around January 15, 2026, in some coverages). If MSCI decides, the impact would not be theoretical: JPMorgan pointed to a risk of forced sales that could reach $2.8 billion via passive funds. 

The Saylor response: “we don’t stack, we finance”

Against MSCI, Strategy favors the structure argument rather than conviction. In a letter dated December 10, Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le defend the idea of a company issuing different instruments, notably preferred shares, to finance its purchases. According to them, this is a logic of financial operation, and not a simple passive accumulation of bitcoin.

At the same time, Strategy raised about 1.44 billion dollars, precisely to cut short doubts about its ability to pay dividends and debts if the share continued to decline. The mechanism sums it up: when fear settles in, some position themselves on “short bitcoin” as a knock-on effect. 

And the communication goes beyond technical defense. In Abu Dhabi, during Bitcoin MENA, Saylor spoke of “digital capital” and “digital gold,” adding a more ambitious idea: building a FORM of “digital credit” above bitcoin to produce yield, while attracting sovereign funds, banks, and family offices. This is the final bet: to make it accepted that Strategy is not a market accident, but a deliberate bridge between traditional indices and treasury in BTC.

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