Strategy's Phong Le Criticizes MSCI’s Crypto Ban

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Strategy's Phong Le Slams MSCI’s Crypto Ban, Warns It Could Stall Innovation

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: December 11, 2025

Key Takeaways

Strategy CEO Phong Le criticized MSCI’s plan to exclude crypto-heavy firms by calling it unfair and shortsighted;
Le compared the move to dropping Chevron for holding oil or Weyerhaeuser for owning timber assets;
He warned that excluding Bitcoin-holding firms could slow innovation and mislabel active companies as funds.

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Strategy's Phong Le Slams MSCI’s Crypto Ban, Warns It Could Stall Innovation

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Phong Le, CEO of Strategy, criticizedMorgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI)’s idea to drop firms that hold most of their assets in cryptocurrency from its stock indexes.

He said such a decision would be like removing energy firms such as Chevron just because they store oil.

In October, MSCI began asking investors whether businesses with over half of their balance sheets in Bitcoin BTC $90,099.74 or other digital assets, known as digital asset treasury (DAT) firms, should stay in major market indexes.

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Speaking with the Schwab Network, Le said he respects MSCI’s role in the market but believes this proposal is based on a misunderstanding. He explained that companies across industries often hold most of their value in a single asset type.

Chevron’s wealth comes from oil, Weyerhaeuser’s from timber, and Simon Property Group’s from real estate. Le noted that none of them face removal for this reason.

Le warned that excluding crypto-heavy companies could hold back new technology. He said:

This would be like in the 1980s, saying the telecom company shouldn’t have built out cell towers and spectrum, or three years ago, saying AI companies shouldn’t be investing in LL labs and high-performance compute.

He also disagreed with MSCI’s idea to classify Strategy and similar firms as investment funds rather than operating companies. Le said this overlooks how the company actually runs.

Recently, Strive, a US-listed company that holds Bitcoin reserves, asked MSCI to reconsider a plan to remove certain Bitcoin-focused businesses from its stock indexes. What did the company say? Read the full story.