Microsoft asks shareholders to vote against an assessment of investing in Bitcoin in SEC filing

Microsoft recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal to consider Bitcoin as an investment asset, as the company already considers Bitcoin as an investment option.

In an Oct. 24 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the “Evaluation of Investment in Bitcoin” item is listed as one of the proposals that Microsoft shareholders will vote for or against at the annual meeting on Dec. 10. But Microsoft’s board recommends they vote against it.

The logic behind this is that Microsoft claims that evaluating Bitcoin (BTC) would be unnecessary because the company has “already carefully considered this issue.”

“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,” the board wrote in response to the proposal.

The proposal was submitted by the independent think tank National Center for Public Policy Research. The supporting statement cites MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin investment strategy and how the tech firm’s shares have outperformed Microsoft by over 300% this year “despite doing a fraction of what Microsoft does.”

They also pointed out that more and more companies are adopting Bitcoin as an investment tool. Meanwhile, BlackRock, Microsoft’s second-largest shareholder, began offering Bitcoin exchange-traded funds earlier this year.

“Bitcoin is an excellent, if not the best, hedge against inflation, and while corporate bond yields are lower than the actual inflation rate, companies should also not risk shareholder value by ignoring Bitcoin altogether,” NCPPR said.

They also said that institutions like Microsoft should at least consider the benefits of holding “even just 1%” of their assets in the form of BTC.

Although it is not yet known whether Microsoft plans to invest in Bitcoin in the near future, the software giant offered Bitcoin as a payment option for its online Xbox store between 2014 and 2018.

In September 2023, a leaked document obtained by Axios revealed that Microsoft was apparently planning to add crypto wallets to its next Xbox console in 2028. However, this may still change since the document is dated May 2022 and the new update is still rolling out. in a few years.