Microsoft Corp. MSFT, with a market capitalization of over $3 trillion, disclosed it will vote for an assessment of investing in Bitcoin BTC/USD during the upcoming shareholders meeting in December.
What happened: In a Thursday filing with the SEC, the technology giant listed a line item “Assessment of Investing in Bitcoin” for a vote in the annual meeting on Dec. 10.
The submission stated that the Board advises voting against this plan.
The shareholders requested the board conduct the assessment, citing Bitcoin's healthy gains—nearly 100% over the last year and 414% in the last five years.
The proposal mentioned MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR, a technology company that holds a large chunk of Bitcoin on its balance sheet and whose shares have outperformed Microsoft in 2024. While Microsoft shares have shot up 14.52% so far in 2024, MicroStrategy shares have shot up a whopping 244%.
Additionally, attention was called to Microsoft's second-largest shareholder, BlackRock, which operates iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT, the largest Bitcoin-based investment fund.
The shareholders called Bitcoin an "excellent," if not the best hedge against inflation.
In response, the board said the vote was "unnecessary" because the company had already considered the 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 company statement read..
Why It Matters: Microsoft is the third-most valuable firm in the world. Even a thoughtful consideration, as mentioned above, was indicative of growing institutional interest in the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
As many as 11 spot exchange-traded funds tracking the price of Bitcoin were launched in the U.S. in January this year, marking a big step for mainstream adoption of the leading cryptocurrency.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $68,115.43, up 1.22% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Shares of Microsoft closed just above the flatline at $424.73 during Thursday’s regular trading session.
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