Michael Saylor’s Strategy missed out on inclusion in the S&P 500 this Friday, sending MSTR tumbling almost 3% despite meeting every published criterion. Unexpectedly, commission-free trading app Robinhood was included, sending its stock soaring by 7%, and exposing how discretionary and secretive the selection process really is.

The SPX is run by a ‘secret committee’

The S&P 500 is often seen as the gold standard of U.S. corporate prestige, a club that companies fight hard to join.

Strategy comfortably checked all the boxes: strong market cap, liquidity, and four consecutive quarters of positive earnings. Many investors expected the company’s Bitcoin-heavy balance sheet (now over 636,000 BTC) would finally land it a coveted spot.

But as Boomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out on X, meeting the criteria isn’t enough:

“Why wasn’t $MSTR allowed into the S&P 500 Index despite meeting all the criteria? Because the ‘Committee’ said no. You have to realize SPX is essentially an active fund run by a secret committee.”

This “Committee” is not public. Its members are senior analysts from S&P Dow Jones Indices, but their identities are withheld to avoid lobbying and outside influence. The reality is that even after meeting strict metrics, final entry is a matter of human discretion, not a rules-based process. The Bitcoin Therapist said it best:

“Reminder that a company that literally sells a shitcoin called ‘Fartcoin’ with a treasury of 11,776 BTC was included in the S&P 500 but Strategy, a Bitcoin only company with a treasury of 636,505 BTC and the largest fixed income IPOs of the year was not included.”

Strategy is the largest corporate Bitcoin holder and has become a proxy for BTC exposure on U.S. financial markets. Its omission has sparked frustration among crypto advocates and traditional investors alike, who believe old-guard prejudice is still alive and well inside the committee room.

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Why was Strategy blocked?

There is no published reasoning for S&P 500 exclusions, just as Tesla saw unexplained delays years before its own eventual inclusion. As Eric Balchunas posted:

“Would be interesting to see a list of all the stocks that were delayed entrance to SPX by The Committee, I know it would include some real studs, eg Microsoft, Tesla. Would be interesting to see a basket of those stocks vs SPX itself historically.’

Strategy’s unique reliance on Bitcoin for corporate treasury and market value is unprecedented. Traditional committee members may be wary of this new type of public equity.

Moreover, volatility concerns persist. MSTR moves with Bitcoin, which exposes the index to greater swings than most conventional stocks.

Strategy’s exclusion means S&P 500 index funds won’t be forced to buy its shares, limiting automatic passive flows and keeping BTC exposure out of the default retirement portfolios of millions.

The case lifts the veil on the S&P 500’s true nature, which is more actively curated than most investors realize, and far less transparent than its reputation suggests.

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Crypto Journalist

Amin Ayan

Crypto Journalist

Amin Ayan

About Author

Amin Ayan is a crypto journalist with over four years of experience in the industry. He has contributed to leading publications such as Cryptonews, Investing.com, 99Bitcoins, and 24/7 Wall St. He has…

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September 6, 2025

Shares of Robinhood jumped 7% in after-hours trading Friday after the retail brokerage was named to the S&P 500.

Robinhood (HOOD) closed just above $101 and soared past $108 in extended trading following the announcement.

The company’s share price has climbed over 150% year-to-date, driven by strong earnings and growing retail interest in stocks and crypto.

Robinhood to Join S&P 500 on September 22

Robinhood will officially join the index on September 22, alongside ad-tech firm AppLovin, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

While Robinhood celebrates its inclusion, Strategy, the Bitcoin treasury firm formerly known as MicroStrategy, was left off the list, despite meeting S&P’s $20 billion market cap requirement.

Strategy, which now holds more than $70 billion in Bitcoin, saw its shares fall 3% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

The omission surprised some observers, given Strategy’s $95 billion valuation and its pioneering role in bringing Bitcoin to public balance sheets.

Based in Tysons Corner, Virginia, the company has become synonymous with corporate crypto adoption.

The S&P reshuffle comes amid rising institutional interest in digital assets and a more favorable political environment.

Earlier this year, Coinbase was added to the S&P index, signaling growing recognition of crypto-native companies in traditional financial markets.

Robinhood’s strong fundamentals further fueled its rally. In Q2, the company posted $989 million in revenue, up 45% year-over-year, beating Wall Street estimates.

Net income hit $386 million, with earnings per share of $0.42, well above analyst forecasts.

Crypto trading revenue came in at $160 million, nearly doubling year-over-year but down from the previous quarter’s $252 million.

Meanwhile, income from options trading and equities reached $265 million and $66 million, respectively, making options Robinhood’s top revenue stream once again.

Robinhood Sues Nevada, New Jersey Regulators Over Event Contracts

Last month, Robinhood Derivatives took legal action against regulators in Nevada and New Jersey, accusing the states of unfairly blocking its entry into the sports event contracts market, despite recent federal court rulings in favor of rival platform Kalshi.

The firm said it began offering event contracts in both states after federal judges ruled earlier this year that Nevada and New Jersey gaming regulators could not enforce their bans against Kalshi, which offers contracts regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Robinhood argued that regulators have ignored those rulings and continued to threaten enforcement action, creating an uneven playing field.

“If state regulators are permitted to act against Robinhood but not Kalshi, then Robinhood will lose out in the sports event contracts space,” the company said in its filings.

Meanwhile, Robinhood has come under regulatory fire in the EU after launching tokenized stock products linked to private companies like OpenAI and SpaceX.

The Bank of Lithuania confirmed it is investigating the legality and investor disclosures related to these blockchain-based “Stock Tokens,” which launched on June 30.

OpenAI publicly disavowed any connection, stating it never approved the tokens and warning investors to be cautious.

Here’s Who Attentending Trump’s Crypto Summit

She attributed this to the roundtable format and the participation of the Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets, which reportedly includes Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Attorney General Pam Bondi, the SEC Chair, and the CFTC Chair, Crypto Czar David Sacks and Bo Hines, Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets of the White House.

“A larger, invite-only reception is being planned across the street from the White House for those not invited to the roundtable meeting,” she added. Terrett also provided a series of updates, confirming multiple attendees.

Among them are Michael Saylor, Bitcoin Inc CEO David Bailey, Paradigm founder Matt Huang, Exodus CEO JP Richardson, Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani, and Zach Witkoff of World Liberty Finance. Additional confirmations include Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, and Kraken CEO Arjun Sethi.

Terrett also noted: “A little more detail here — invites were sent to attendees via email this afternoon. Per the email, the event is scheduled to go from 1:30PM – 5:30PM. No further details in the missive beyond time and location.”

Several of the confirmed attendees have already spoken publicly about the summit. Michael Saylor posted on X: “I have been invited to the Digital Assets Summit at the White House this Friday, hosted by the President.”

Multicoin’s Kyle Samani wrote: “I’ll be attending The Digital Assets Summit on Friday, March 7th at the White House. I look forward to collaborating with industry peers, the Trump administration, and elected officials to ensure crypto thrives in America. Thank you to President Trump for this wonderful opportunity!”

Paradigm founder Matt Huang expressed enthusiasm: “I’ll be attending the White House Digital Asset Summit on Friday. Thank you to President Trump for the invitation. I look forward to discussing how America can take a leadership role in promoting the principles of open crypto and enabling builders in ecosystems such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana.”

Notably absent from the list of confirmed attendees is Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Earlier in the week, Garlinghouse wrote on X: “I’ve said this before – the crypto industry will achieve our goals (and beyond), IF WE WORK TOGETHER. Appreciate the crypto President Donald Trump’s vision of a govt digital asset reserve representative of the industry. […] I will certainly continue to champion this while in Washington at the end of this week.”

So far, however, Garlinghouse has not confirmed whether he received an invitation to Friday’s summit. Similarly, no confirmation has emerged regarding representatives from the Solana or Cardano ecosystems, despite President Trump’s recent Truth Social announcement of establishing a crypto strategic reserve holding five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, and Cardano. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko have also remained silent on any attendance.

At press time, Bitcoin traded at $87,033.