Microsoft Schedules December Shareholder Vote on Possibility of Investing in Bitcoin, Board Recommends Against It

Tech giant Microsoft is scheduling a shareholder vote in December on the prospect of investing in Bitcoin (BTC) despite recommendations against it.

In a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Microsoft’s board of directors recommends voting against considering the idea of investing in the top crypto asset by market cap.

In an official statement, the board notes that the proposal itself is unnecessary because the firm’s management team has already carefully taken into consideration whether they should invest in the crypto king or not.

“Microsoft’s [teams] evaluate a wide range of investable assets to fund Microsoft’s ongoing operations, including assets expected to provide diversification and inflation protection, and to mitigate the risk of significant economic loss from rising interest rates.

Past evaluations have included Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies among the options considered, and Microsoft continues to monitor trends and developments related to cryptocurrencies to inform future decision-making.

As the proposal itself notes, volatility is a factor to consider in evaluating cryptocurrency investments for corporate treasury applications that require stable and predictable investments to ensure liquidity and operational funding.”

The board goes on to say that since the matter has already been looked into, asking shareholders to vote on the subject is “unwarranted.”

In a different statement, proponents of the idea say that large corporations should be looking to diversifying their portfolios as a means of combating inflation.

“As of March 31, 2024, Microsoft Corporation has $484 billion in total assets, the plurality of which are US government securities and corporate bonds that barely outpace inflation (if assuming that the CPI is accurate, which it isn’t, so bond yields are actually lower than the true inflation rate).

Therefore, in inflationary times like these, corporations should – and perhaps have a fiduciary duty to – consider diversifying their balance sheets with assets that appreciate more than bonds, even if those assets are more volatile short-term.”

Bitcoin is trading for $66,799 at time of writing, down over 2% during the last 24 hours.

 

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