Microsoft Could Make BTC Investment Progress by December, Despite Board Being Cautious on Crypto

Bitcoin was founded in 2009.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 25 October 2024 18:38 IST

Photo Credit: Reuters

Board has recommended stakeholders to vote against BTC investments

Highlights

Microsoft has dabbled with Web3 initiatives in recent years
Microsoft stakeholders can vote until December 9
It will hold the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on December 10

Despite its notorious volatility and lack of regulation, the crypto sector appears to be gaining traction within the global investment community. By December, software giant Microsoft is expected to finalise its stance on adding Bitcoin to its balance sheets. Currently, the company is inviting shareholder feedback to gauge support for exploring Bitcoin investments. This development comes just weeks ahead of Microsoft's 2024 Annual Shareholder's Meeting.

The Redmond, Washington-based company submitted a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week, that revealed this development. The document shows that the company board members have ‘recommended' the voters to vote against Microsoft assessing Bitcoin investments.

Bitcoin was founded in 2009 by its anonymous creator famed by the pseudo name, Satoshi Nakamoto. Around October 2009, BTC was priced $0.0009 (roughly Rs. 0.076). Over the course of the last 15 years, BTC's value has touched the mark of $73,738 (roughly Rs. 69.9 lakh). As of Friday, October 25, BTC was trading at $67,767 (roughly Rs. 56.9 lakh) with its total market cap standing at a whopping $1.34 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,12,66,679 crore).

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Despite its significant market presence, Bitcoin remains highly volatile amid macro- and microeconomic shifts, posing substantial investment risks. Microsoft's decision to seek stakeholder input on Bitcoin investments suggests that the crypto sector is increasingly capturing the interest of institutional investors.

In the past, Microsoft has dabbled with the crypto and Web3 space but has not added Bitcoin or any other crypto to its balance sheets.

In 2022, the company was scouting for a “Director of Business Development- Cryptocurrencies" indicating that it was exploring blockchain technologies. The same year, Microsoft invested in the ConsenSys blockchain firm.

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Meanwhile, in 2023, reports suggested that Microsoft's Edge browser could see an inbuilt Ethereum wallet.

In the past, Elon Musk's Tesla and Micheal Saylor's MicroStrategy have etched their names among highly valued companies with investments allocated to cryptocurrencies.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Microsoft, Bitcoin, Crypto

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More