- Microsoft shareholders will vote on assessing investing in Bitcoin, amongst a number of topics, at the annual shareholders meeting in December.
- This follows the trend of companies adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets as an inflation hedge.
- The Microsoft board advises against voting for the motion, citing that the company’s management has carefully considered the topic.
Recent filings by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show that Microsoft intends to put up the topic of investing in Bitcoin to a vote at its shareholder meeting scheduled for December 9th 2024. However, whether the proposal refers to Microsoft adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet or simply seriously considering it as an investment remains unclear.
Microstrategy and the trend of corporate Bitcoin Treasuries
Corporates adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets is a growing trend that started with MicroStrategy, a provider of business intelligence software, buying Bitcoin en masse in 2020 at a time when cryptocurrency was unpopular among corporations.
Since then, the trend has grown following the success of MicroStrategy’s efforts; its stock price has risen 246% this year, from $68.39 on Jan 2nd to $235.89 as of writing, driven largely by the valuation of its large Bitcoin stash which sits around 252,000BTC worth around $17.1 billion as of writing.
Since Microstrategy, companies like Tesla and Metaplanet Inc, have added significant Bitcoin positions to their balance sheet.
As crypto recognition and adoption grows, more companies are coming around to seeing Bitcoin’s potential as an inflation hedge.
Some resistance remains
While Bitcoin’s historic performance against other asset classes over the last ten years cannot be disproven, some companies remain sceptical about jumping on the bandwagon. Most major tech firms in the US have not invested in Bitcoin as an asset class or added it to their balance sheet.
The Microsoft board advises shareholders against voting for considering Bitcoin as an investment at the scheduled meeting. According to the SEC’s filing, “Microsoft’s management already carefully considers this topic.”