Even Microsoft Wants Out: The Quest to Escape Inflation

Happy Monday Bitcoiners, it's Bam here with another Bitcoin update!

Each week, our team at Bitcoin News saves you time by curating the most impactful events into a concise, easy-to-read update.

Notable events this week include:

• Microsoft shareholders set to vote on potential Bitcoin investment.

• Bitcoin network difficulty hits a new all-time high.

• River launches 3.8% interest on cash, paid out in Bitcoin.

Let’s dive in! ⚡

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LATEST NEWS 📰

🙌 ADOPTION

• Ecash can now be transferred using physical cards, offering a tap-to-pay experience that’s as quick and seamless as handing over cash.

• River launches 3.8% interest on cash, paid in Bitcoin, helping users shield against inflation and grow long-term savings.

• Lightspark introduces Spark, a Bitcoin Layer 2 enabling instant, low-cost self-custodial transactions and native Lightning Network support for seamless sending and receiving.

⚖️ LEGAL

• Minneapolis Fed paper suggests that governments may need to aggressively tax or ban Bitcoin to sustain permanent deficits.

• Pennsylvania’s House passes the ‘Bitcoin Rights’ bill by a sweeping majority, with bipartisan support from both Republicans and Democrats.

• Milei plans to dissolve Argentina’s tax agency, AFIP, replacing it with a “simpler, more efficient, less costly, and less bureaucratic structure.”

📈 MARKETS

• BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF had an incredible week, adding $1.1 billion in new cash and ranking 3rd in YTD flows. With $26 billion in AUM, IBIT is now in the top 2% of all ETFs.

• Emory University reports owning $15 million worth of Bitcoin through the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (mini) in a recent SEC filing.

• Microsoft, with $75 billion in cash, faces a proposed board resolution to assess investing in Bitcoin. Investors will vote on adding Bitcoin to the balance sheet, with MicroStrategy’s performance as a key reference point.

⛏️ MINING

• Bitcoin's network difficulty hits a new all-time high, marking strengthened security and heightened mining competition.

• Bitaxe Supra runs effortlessly in an immersion-cooled fish tank setup, showcasing the growing trend of community-driven home mining experimentation.

• Altair Tech has developed the BitChimney, a Bitcoin miner and heater designed for office use.

🗳️ POLITICS

• France has officially adopted citizenship-based taxation, taxing French citizens on worldwide income if they relocate to regions with tax rates at least 50% lower than France’s.

• Bitcoin Reef in Curaçao donates 50 million sats to Bitcoiner Maya Parbhoe’s presidential campaign in Suriname.

• Denmark’s Minister of Taxation proposes a 42% annual tax on unrealized Bitcoin and crypto gains.

BAMS 2 SATS 🧢

This week included a development that very few saw coming. Microsoft disclosed in an SEC filing last Thursday that a proposal for “An Assessment of Investing in Bitcoin” will be up for a shareholder vote at the December 10th meeting.

Microsoft’s filing includes a section titled “Bitcoin Diversification Assessment,” highlighting how MicroStrategy’s stock outperformed Microsoft by 313% this year, despite generating only a fraction of Microsoft’s revenue.

“And they are not alone. The institutional and corporate adoption of Bitcoin is becoming more commonplace. Microsoft’s second-largest shareholder, BlackRock, offers its clients a Bitcoin ETF." – Microsoft’s report.

Notably, the board recommends shareholders vote against the proposal. However, this stance could end up drawing even more investor attention to MicroStrategy’s remarkable outperformance.

Interestingly, Microsoft has $75 billion sitting in cash—what Saylor might call a “melting ice cube.” True to form, Saylor seized the moment, reaching out to Microsoft’s CEO on Twitter to offer his guidance on adopting Bitcoin.

The reality is that escaping inflation is increasingly difficult, even for large corporations as it continues to accelerate. To put this into perspective: it took the U.S. 221 years to reach $12 trillion in debt, then just four more years (from 2020) to add another $12 trillion.

As purchasing power erodes, everyone is or will be seeking an inflation solution—and what better option than a fixed-supply asset like Bitcoin?

Even prominent investor Paul Tudor Jones is now openly advocating for it in mainstream media.

“All roads lead to inflation. I’m long gold. I’m long Bitcoin. I own zero fixed income. The playbook to get out of this [debt problem] is that you inflate your way out.” – Paul Tudor Jones

So will Microsoft choose Bitcoin as a new weapon in their fight against inflation? That remains to be seen. But consider this: BlackRock is Microsoft’s second-largest shareholder. I’ll leave the rest of the speculation to you.

Keep on stacking!
Bam

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