Microsoft's Opposition To Bitcoin Investments Aligns With The Stance Of The Company's Largest Shareholder, Vanguard: Here's More

Microsoft Corp. MSFT said no to Bitcoin BTC/USD investments last year, ending weeks of speculation that the tech behemoth would join other corporations in adding the world’s largest cryptocurrency to its reserves.

Interestingly, the company's refusal was consistent with that of its largest shareholder, Vanguard Group, which has avoided backing any cryptocurrency-related investment products due to the speculative nature of the asset class.

What happened: Microsoft voted down a proposal to include Bitcoin on its balance sheet after the board raised concerns about the asset’s volatility.

The refusal came despite a case by Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor for how the plan could increase Microsoft's market capitalization in the near term.

Notably, Vanguard Group, the world's second-largest asset manager and Microsoft's largest investor has also shied away from offering Bitcoin-based products, including the popular spot exchange-traded funds.

The company has categorically denied any plan of launching a Bitcoin ETF, deeming cryptocurrencies an "immature asset class" with no inherent value, no cash flow, and which can create havoc within a portfolio.

It’s worth noting that BlackRock, Microsoft’s second-largest shareholder, has taken the opposite stance, advocating for a 1% to 2% allocation of a portfolio to Bitcoin and even launching its own iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT, which is presently the world’s largest cryptocurrency fund.

Vanguard holds 684.07 million shares of Microsoft, accounting for 9.20% of the total shares outstanding, according to the latest 13F filing. BlackRock owns a 7.75% stake.

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $96,863.91, up 0.86% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. The MSFT stock closed 0.51% down at 408.43 during Friday’s regular trading session.

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