23/12/2025

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | DEC 23, 2025

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Bitcoin-buying firms face exclusion from stock indices

Greece headed for ‘record year’ in tourism: Minister ATHENS: Greece is on track for “another record year” for tourism in 2025, despite ongoing labour shortages in a key sector of its economy, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said on Sunday. Between January and the end of September, the Mediterranean nation – long beloved by tourists for its sunny islands and rich archaeological sites – welcomed 31.6 million visitors, a 4% increase compared with the same period in 2024, according to Bank of Greece data published in late November. “Overall, we expect 2025 to be another record year for tourism in our country,” Kefalogianni said in an interview with the Greek news agency ANA. The minister also expressed hope for another bumper year in 2026. “The indicators for 2026 are already particularly encouraging and allow us to be optimistic,” she said. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Greece has been breaking annual records in tourism revenues and the number of foreign visitors. Across 2024, 40.7 million people visited Greece, up 12.8% from 2023. But the uptick has sparked concern over the unchecked construction in several hotspots, while Athens locals have complained that the proliferation of short-term holiday lets has caused rents to skyrocket. Climate change-fuelled heatwaves and increasingly devastating wildfires also pose a threat to the sector, which Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has trumpeted since taking office in 2019 in a bid to revive the economy after the financial crisis. According to the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation, tourism directly contributed around 13% of GDP in 2024 and indirectly to more than 30% of GDP. – AFP South Korea tax agency conducts SEOUL: South Korea’s National Tax Service is conducting a special audit of the e-commerce platform Coupang, which is facing potential sanctions by regulators following a massive leak of customer information, the Yonhap news agency reported yesterday. The audit also involves the South Korean unit’s transactions with the New York-listed parent company led by founder Bom Kim, Yonhap said. Kim has faced criticism in South Korea for remaining silent despite calls to answer questions about the breach. A large team of tax agency officials entered Coupang’s offices in Seoul and secured documents yesterday, Yonhap said, citing unnamed industry sources. Confirmation of the leak of 33 million customers’ personal information by the company has stirred an angry public backlash against the dominant player in Korea’s e-commerce market and triggered probes by regulators and the police. Last week, when Kim failed to appear before a parliamentary hearing on the breach, angry lawmakers vowed to take legal action against him. Kim cited his overseas residence and commitments as head of a global company operating in more than 170 countries for not attending. – Reuters special audit of Coupang

excluded from other indexes, which include the Nasdaq 100, CRSP US Total Market Index and various LSEG-owned Russell indices. Strategy had a market value of around US$45 billion last week. CRSP declined to comment. A spokesperson for LSEG said it continuously monitors client feedback and any methodology consultations would follow its governance processes. Nasdaq declined to comment. It kept Strategy in its Nasdaq 100 index during this month’s annual reshuffle. As of September, at least 200 DATs had a combined capitalisation of around US$150 billion, up more than threefold from a year earlier, according to law firm DLA Piper. As crypto prices have dropped, however, some companies have traded below the net asset value of their tokens. Besides Strategy, MSCI’s preliminary list names 38 companies at risk of exclusion, with a combined issuer market cap of US$46.7 billion as of Sept 30, including French bitcoin-buying company Capital B. Alexandre Laizet, Capital B’s director of bitcoin strategy, said the quantity of its shares held by passive funds was “not that significant now” but in terms of future adoption, it was “quite important” for the company to have access to passive flows. Matt Cole, CEO of US bitcoin-buyer Strive, which is not on the list, said the proposals have mostly been priced in by the market. “On a longer-term basis, I think it raises the cost of capital for all bitcoin treasury companies,” Cole said. – Reuters

Analysts say that if it excludes digital asset treasury (DAT) companies, other index providers could follow. “The conversation already extends beyond just MSCI ... to the eligibility of DATs in equity indexes in general,” Jefferies head of index strategy Kaasha Saini said, adding she expects most equity indexes would move to follow MSCI. Passive asset managers are estimated to hold as much as 30% of a large-cap company’s free float, according to Saini, meaning exclusion could trigger significant outflows. That’s especially problematic for the DAT industry, since many companies fund their token purchases by selling stock. A spokesperson for Strategy, which has increasingly taken on debt to fund its token purchases, did not respond to a request for comment. Saylor this month dismissed worries over potential MSCI exclusion, telling Reuters it would not matter. But in a subsequent public letter to MSCI, he and Strategy CEO Phong Le estimated DAT exclusion would result in US$2.8 billion of its stock being liquidated and “chill” the industry. The proposal would shut DATs out of the roughly US$15 trillion passive-investment universe, “drastically weakening their competitive position”, they wrote. Analysts at TD Cowen estimated in November that US$2.5 billion of Strategy’s market value comes from MSCI, and US$5.5 billion from other indices. JPMorgan estimated that Strategy faces US$2.8 billion of outflows if MSCI kicks the company out, rising to US$8.8 billion if it is

o MSCI to decide by Jan 15, analysts expect other providers to follow suit PARIS: Michael Saylor’s Strategy could soon be dropped from MSCI and potentially other major stock indices, which analysts say could cost the bitcoin-hoarding giant up to US$9 billion (RM36.6 billion) in demand for its shares and hurt the wider appeal of the sector. After queries from clients, MSCI in October proposed ditching from its global benchmarks companies whose digital asset holdings represent 50% or more of their total assets. It says they resemble investment funds, which it does not include in its benchmarks. But many such firms argue that they are operational companies developing novel products, and that MSCI’s proposals unfairly discriminate against crypto. Shares in Strategy, which began life as software firm MicroStrategy, skyrocketed 3,000% after it began buying bitcoin in 2020, although they have since fallen sharply, and are down about 43% this year amid the cryptocurrency’s slump. Dozens more companies have been inspired to buy and hold crypto tokens on their own balance sheets in the hopes they will gain value, although questions are growing over the sustainability of these businesses. MSCI is holding a public consultation and will announce a decision by Jan 15. Spot gold was up 1.7% at US$4,411.01 per ounce, as of 0822 GMT (4.22pm in Malaysia), having climbed down from the record high of US$4,420.01 hit earlier in the day. Spot silver climbed 2.5% to hit US$69.44. US gold futures for February delivery rose 1.3% to US$4,444.00 per ounce. Bullion has gained 67% so far this year, shattering multiple records and breaching the US$3,000 and US$4,000 per-ounce milestones for the first time. It is poised for its biggest annual gain since 1979. Silver has surged 138% year-to-date, vastly outperforming gold, underpinned by robust investment inflows and persistent supply constraints. “With December usually producing positive returns for gold and silver, seasonality is on their side,” said StoneX senior analyst Matt Simpson. “Given that gold has already risen 4% this month and we’re nearing the end of the year, bulls may want to tread with caution as volumes are to deplete and odds of profit-taking are also likely on the rise.” Spot gold may extend gains to US$4,427 per ounce, as it has broken a key resistance at US$4,375, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. Traditionally viewed as a safe-haven asset, gold has been supported by heightened geopolitical and trade tensions, steady central bank buying and expectations of lower interest rates next year. A softer dollar has provided an additional tailwind by making the metal cheaper for overseas buyers.

Gold and silver prices hit all-time highs NEW YORK: Gold jumped past the US$4,400-per-ounce level for the first time yesterday, riding on growing expectations of further US rate cuts and strong safe-haven demand, with silver also joining the rally to hit an all-time high.

An exhibitor arranges items in a box during the 24th edition of the International Gold and Jewellery Exhibition in Kuwait City. – AFPPIC

pencilled in for 2026, with a faster US jobs slowdown and a shift to a more dovish Fed likely to add further upside to gold. Elsewhere, platinum jumped 4.3% to US$2,058.35, hitting its highest in more than 17 years. – Reuters

Markets are currently pricing in two US rate cuts for next year despite the Federal Reserve signalling caution. Non-yielding assets such as gold tend to benefit in lower interest rate environments. Simpson said two Fed rate cuts were