Meta, Microsoft and Amazon reject Bitcoin: Was this the right call?
Just 0.1% of Meta shareholders backed a proposal to add Bitcoin to its treasury, joining Amazon and Microsoft in making similar decisions. Here’s what investors are saying.
Meta’s decisive shareholder vote rejected the idea of adding Bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet, aligning with similar moves by Microsoft and Amazon in similar decisions. According to an SEC filing, just 0.1% of shareholders voted in favor, while 95% voted against. For some, this suggests that tech firms are still lagging in Bitcoin adoption.
For one, Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, believes tech firms are missing out. He pointed out that Meta’s large cash positions are already speculative. If the dollar falls, so will their cash reserves, and Bitcoin could serve as a way to diversify.
“They are already hoarding fiat with $30B in cash, up from $12B in 2023,” Matthew Sigel, VanEck.
Sigel acknowledged that this accounts for just 2% of Meta’s market cap. However, other companies—including Netflix, Google, and Verizon, hold fewer reserves, and some even carry significant amounts of debt.
Bitcoin is not gaining traction among major firms
Bitcoin has recently gained attention as with more and more companies increased their positions. One of them is GameStop, which invested $519 million in BTC. However, as many have pointed out, most of the companies doing big Bitcoin plays tend to struggle in their core business, with GameStop being no exception.
In many cases, these companies are hoping that speculative interest around Bitcoin could boost their stock price. However, in GameStop’s case, the success was momentary, with its share price falling from a high of $35 shortly after the acquisition.
For successful businesses like Meta, Bitcoin is a less compelling buy. For Meta investors, including investment giants like BlackRock, Vanguard, and Fidelity, traditional risk management is sufficient. On the other hand, Bitcoin is still seen as too risky to hold.
