On Dec. 10, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) shareholders voted against a proposal to ask the company to add Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) to its balance sheet. Microsoft's board had recommended that shareholders vote no, so the rejection was perhaps no surprise.
But what if it had succeeded? Other high-profile corporations would have surely followed Microsoft's example, leading to a wave of Bitcoin adoption across corporate America. All of that Bitcoin buying would have surely sent its price soaring, creating Bitcoin millionaires in the process. So what happens now?
A new era of Bitcoin shareholder activism
It seems Microsoft is not the only target of Bitcoin shareholder activism. The National Center For Public Policy Research, the Washington, D.C., think tank behind Microsoft's Bitcoin shareholder proposal, has already said that the next tech company on its list is Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). In April, Amazon shareholders will vote on a similar proposal, requesting that the company consider adopting Bitcoin as a treasury asset.
With Bitcoin breaking through the $100,000 mark and a wave of pro-crypto optimism surrounding the incoming Trump administration, other companies might also think about adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets. If they don't, they could face backlash from shareholders.
This would be a case of shareholders forcing companies to invest in something they do approve of, rather than divest from something they don't. In short, Bitcoin adoption would become the newest way for companies to boost shareholder value .
Bitcoin adoption in corporate America
Right now, the largest publicly traded companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets are crypto-related companies. These include Bitcoin mining companies Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) and MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR).
There are a few exceptions — such as Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) — but by and large, any company buying Bitcoin right now has some direct link to the crypto industry. They are buying Bitcoin because it makes sense for their overall business. Coinbase Global, for example, needs to buy Bitcoin because people are buying and selling Bitcoin on its cryptocurrency trading platform.
That could change soon, though. On Nov. 20, three companies in the biotech industry announced plans to buy $1 million in Bitcoin each as a way of participating in Bitcoin's future upside potential and building shareholder value. If these companies are successful, others may follow suit.
Impact on Bitcoin investors
Just consider some of the numbers involved. The National Center for Public Policy Research chose Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy, to give a three-minute presentation on why Microsoft should adopt Bitcoin. Saylor suggested that Microsoft should be buying as much as $100 billion in Bitcoin per year for its corporate treasury. Doing so, he said, had the potential to add trillions of dollars to the market cap of Microsoft.
Buying $100 billion would be a staggering amount of Bitcoin. By way of comparison, MicroStrategy has about $42 billion worth of Bitcoin on its balance sheet right now. So in just a single year, Microsoft would zoom past MicroStrategy to become the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin in the world. And Microsoft would also surpass the largest Bitcoin ETF in the world (the iShares Bitcoin Trust ), which holds about $54 billion worth of Bitcoin.
What happens next for Bitcoin?
The argument for holding Bitcoin is becoming stronger and stronger. There's support on Main Street among individual investors. There's support on Wall Street from financial institutions. There's support in Washington, D.C., and (soon) in the White House. If just a single Silicon Valley tech titan adopts Bitcoin, it could set off a huge Bitcoin buying spree.
So keep your eyes on Bitcoin shareholder activism. Microsoft had a chance to make a momentous decision about Bitcoin and passed on the opportunity. But if you're a Bitcoin investor, there's no need to worry. In just a few months, Amazon will be the next big company with a chance to vote on Bitcoin adoption.
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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Dominic Basulto disclosure policy .