Microsoft shareholders have rejected a proposal that would direct the company to invest in Bitcoin.
The unlikely push to get Microsoft, one of the world’s most valuable companies, to buy Bitcoin came from the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank.
The organization has filed more than 60 proposals at Fortune 500 companies urging them to consider a variety of proposals, from reviewing the supposed risks of diversity initiatives to investing in Bitcoin as an inflation hedge.
Despite the push and Bitcoin’s banner year — it’s up more than 118% since January 1 — few non-crypto companies have copied the playbook set by MicroStrategy, the tech firm that has greatly profited by investing billions in Bitcoin.
Microsoft asked its shareholders to vote against the proposal, citing the volatility of cryptocurrencies and the company’s need for “stable and predictable investments to ensure liquidity and operational funding.”
Detailed results of the vote will be posted on Microsoft’s website in the coming days, deputy general counsel Keith Dolliver said during the company’s annual meeting of shareholders.
It was one of six shareholder proposals considered Tuesday, all of which failed, according to a preliminary tally.
Bitcoin proponents have long argued the original cryptocurrency, with its finite supply, would prove a valuable hedge against inflation.
At their urging, US President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to turn Bitcoin seized by law enforcement into a “strategic national Bitcoin stockpile” that could be used to pay down the country’s debt. Similar proposals have been floated in at least two US states.
But the idea has been panned by conservative-leaning economists, who argue that the chief consequence would be a run-up in Bitcoin prices at the expense of US taxpayers, who’d be left holding the bag if the notoriously volatile asset subsequently crashed.
During a brief question-and-answer session at the end of the meeting, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said the company has long been forward-looking when it comes to crypto, noting that it has accepted some cryptocurrencies as payment since 2014.
But it was “important to remember our criteria and our goals of our balance sheet,” she continued, citing “to preserve capital, to allow a lot of liquidity, [and] to be able to fund our operations and partnerships and investments.”
Nonetheless, the bet that Microsoft shareholders turned down has paid off for MicroStrategy.
The firm has added $37 billion worth of the cryptocurrency to its balance sheet over the years, and this year alone shares have soared more than 450%.
In contrast, Microsoft shares are up 26% year to date.
In a three-minute video addressed to Microsoft shareholders, Saylor said that global corporations such as Microsoft could preserve trillions in value if they parked their cash in Bitcoin.
“Microsoft has a choice to make: Cling to the past or embrace the future,” he said.
Aleks Gilbert is a DeFi correspondent based in New York. Have a tip? Contact him at aleks@dlnews.com.
