Michael Saylor Encourages Microsoft To Invest In Bitcoin

JAKARTA - MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor has actively encouraged large companies including Microsoft to invest in Bitcoin as an important asset of the company. In a brief presentation to Microsoft's board of directors, Saylor called Bitcoin the "21st-century digital transformation" and suggested the tech giant was to transfer most of its assets to Bitcoin to strengthen its financial position.

Saylor said Bitcoin investment could increase Microsoft's share price to US$584 (around Rp9.2 million) per share and increase the company's valuation of US$4.9 trillion (around Rp77,420 trillion) in 2034. He also highlighted the risks that arise from dependence on traditional assets such as stocks and bonds, which he said were more vulnerable to market inflation and volatility.

MicroStrategy has been a real example of this strategy. With Bitcoin reserves of 386,700 BTC, or 37.7 billion US dollars (approximately IDR 596 trillion), the company recorded a 581% increase in share prices throughout 2024, far beyond Microsoft's share growth which only increased 12% in the same period. This success became the basis for Saylor to encourage Microsoft to take a similar step.

However, Microsoft's board of directors, which focuses on developing artificial intelligence (AI), rejected this proposal. They stated that evaluation of various assets, including Bitcoin, has become part of their investment strategy. Support for Bitcoin adoption in Microsoft also comes from the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), which calls the decision not to invest as a major opportunity the company will miss.

At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin is trading at the level of IDR 1.52 billion per coin. Microsoft's decision to consider Bitcoin will be closely monitored, especially ahead of the shareholder vote on December 10, 2024.