In a post on company performance requirements. sigel <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/matthew_sigel/status/1866939374681633167″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>commented that “it seems to him that MSFT is open to an eth ETF as long as they can collect staking revenue.”
Is Microsoft Open to Spotting ethereum ETFs?
This interpretation came after Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft, reiterated the company's long-standing commitment to digital assets. Although he did not specifically reference eth, Hood noted that Microsoft began accepting cryptocurrency as payment from customers in 2014 and has continued to do so ever since.
“I think it's important to take a step back and realize that almost a decade ago, actually maybe a little more than that, we started accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment from our customers, and that was in 2014. And we continue to do so today. We were one of the first companies to realize and embrace this after listening to customers,” Hood said.
According to her, the treasury team regularly reviews all available asset classes taking into account three key factors that influence future decisions. “Our treasury team, along with Board reviews, reviews all asset classes available to us. It is important to remember our criteria and our objectives for our balance sheet and for cash balances, the most important thing is to preserve capital, allow for plenty of liquidity to be able to finance our operations, partnerships and investments.”
Hood noted that digital assets are “something we constantly cover with our Board” as Microsoft evaluates whether a given category meets its strategic goals. “So with those three goals, we look at all asset classes, including cryptocurrencies as a form of investment. “It is something we constantly cover with our Board and continue to evaluate different categories year after year if our objectives should change,” he added.
Sigel's inference that Microsoft could lean toward eth-based products is based on three points: the company's early acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a payment method, a continued evaluation of digital assets at the board level management and the role that yield generation could play in any investment choice. Sigel stated:
1) They accept cryptocurrencies and believe in their usefulness.
2) The board has already evaluated and will continue to evaluate digital assets for the reserve.
3) If the asset has yield = higher probability that MSFT will buy it.
However, not everyone found this conclusion irrefutable. A member of the ethereum community questioned Sigel's interpretation of Hood's comments, calling it a “leap” to assume that Microsoft could buy eth ETFs, although he admitted that it remains “possible.”
When asked if Microsoft might also consider Solana (SOL), Sigel succinctly responded, “Yes.” VanEck himself has experience in the altcoin ETF space, offering an ethereum spot ETF and filing in June with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a Solana spot ETF. With the incoming Trump administration, experts believe it is highly likely that altcoin spot ETFs like Solana will be approved under new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins.
Meanwhile, Microsoft recently rejected a different cryptocurrency-related proposal. According to a previous report by Bitcoinist, a group of shareholders urged the tech giant to list bitcoin as a reserve asset. That proposal, voted on December 10, failed to gain traction: only 0.55% of shareholders supported it and the majority effectively rejected the idea of adding btc to Microsoft's balance sheet.
Notably, the US SEC approved the first ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on June 23 of this year. A key factor in the approval was the removal of the staking features in response to the agency's concerns about the possible classification of staking as an unregistered security.
At the time of this publication, eth was trading at $3,931.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com
