Microsoft shareholders have voted against a proposal that would essentially force the tech giant’s board of directors to consider buying Bitcoin (BTC). The resolution would have pushed the firm’s board of directors to “conduct an assessment to determine if diversifying the Company’s balance sheet by including Bitcoin is in the best long-term interests of shareholders.” […]
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Microsoft’s upcoming vote on whether or not to build a Bitcoin position is just another sign of corporations’ and institutional investors’ growing interest in BTC.
On Oct. 24, a filing by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed an unexpected item on the agenda for its upcoming annual shareholder meeting on Dec. 10.
Alongside routine votes—such as the election of directors, the ratification of its independent auditor, and reports on AI misinformation—one proposal stood out: an "Assessment of Investment in Bitcoin." Interestingly, Microsoft's board recommended shareholders vote against it.
As of its second-quarter 2024 financial report, Microsoft held $76 billion in cash and equivalents. If shareholders pushed the company to allocate even 10% of that to Bitcoin, it would represent a massive $7.6 billion investment.
MicroStrategy is up over 1,500% since 1999 compared to Microsoft’s 1,460% gains during the same 25-year period.
MicroStrategy’s bet on Bitcoin is paying off handsomely as its stock soared more than 7% on Oct. 25, marking a new 25-year high at $236.
This was a continuation of a six-week rally for the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, which has seen its share surpass Microsoft’s as the tech giant is set to vote on a proposal to publicly assess adding Bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet.
“MicroStrategy is soaring to a new all-time high!” observed crypto community Crypto Coin Coach in a post on X in response to the software company’s share price movement on Oct. 24.
Microsoft’s board is already recommending voting against it, arguing they already “evaluate a wide range of investable assets,” including Bitcoin.
Microsoft shareholders are set to vote in December on whether the tech giant should publicly assess adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet, a filing with the United States securities regulator reveals.
In the Oct. 24 filing, Microsoft disclosed that “Assessment of Investing in Bitcoin” is currently proposed to certain shareholders who will cast their vote in a Dec. 10 meeting.
However, the Microsoft board is already recommending they vote against it because they already “evaluate a wide range of investable assets,” including Bitcoin (BTC).
Item 5 stating the Microsoft board recommends shareholders to vote against a Bitcoin investment. Source: Securities and Exchange Commission
The upcoming listings will bring the total number of stock tokens supported by Binance to five.
Top crypto asset exchange Binance has announced it will list three new stock tokens over the coming week, following the launch of tokens tracking the performance of Tesla and Coinbase shares earlier this month.
On April 26, Binance announced it will launch tokenized stock pairings for leading business intelligence firm, Microstrategy (MSTR), in addition to multinational tech firms Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT).
The tokens will allow users to trade fractionalized units of the share tokens, with minimum trade sizing set at one one-hundredth of a token.
Binance’s MSTR tokens are slated to go live at 1:30 pm UTC on April 26, while the AAPL tokens will launch at the same time on April 28, and MSFT tokens will be tradable from April 30.
The exchange asserts its stock tokens are “fully backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities” held by German financial services provider, CM-Equity AG. The tokens will observe traditional stock trading hours.
The tokens will only be tradable against Binance’s stablecoin BUSD. Binance’s stock tokens are not available to residents of mainland China, the United States, Turkey, and other jurisdictions restricted by CM-Equity.
Binance launched its first stock token on April 12, allowing its customers to speculate on the price of Tesla (TSLA). The exchange also listed fractional shares for Coinbase (COIN) on April 15.
Binance’s expansion into stock tokens appears to demonstrate increasing competition between it and Hong Kong-headquartered crypto derivatives platform, FTX — which launched fractionalized stock trading in October 2020, including derivatives tracking Tesla and Apple shares.
