In a filing with the SEC, Microsoft said it is currently conducting an "evaluation of its investment in Bitcoin" that will be voted on at its shareholders meeting on December 10.

It is separately stated that the board of directors is recommended to vote against this proposal, calling it “unnecessary.” Allegedly, the company is already evaluating financial instruments to protect against inflation, which includes Bitcoin.

Microsoft's shareholder filing contains an example of MicroStrategy's implementation of its Bitcoin strategy, indicating that the latter's shares outperformed MSFT by 313% this year alone.

Michael Saylor did not miss the opportunity to comment on the situation, noting Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a tweet:

If you want to make the next trillion dollars for MSFT shareholders, give me a call.

In the past, Microsoft has banned cryptocurrency mining using its online services, including Azure, without written permission. This change was included in the Microsoft Universal License Terms for Online Services and became effective on December 1, 2022.

Reasons for the ban include concerns for the integrity of the infrastructure and the well-being of other users, as well as possible risks associated with cyber fraud. A Microsoft representative noted that mining can lead to disruptions in services and harm other users.

Microsoft is not the first company to restrict mining on its cloud platforms. Similar measures have been taken by Google Cloud, Digital Ocean, Oracle, OVH, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), although the latter allows mining on paid plans but prohibits it on free plans.

These measures are aimed at protecting infrastructure and improving the customer experience, as well as reducing the risks associated with mining activity.