MicroStrategy Board of Directors Now Paid In Bitcoin

The board of analytics software company MicroStrategy is now paid in Bitcoin, according to the company's CEO Michael Saylor.

Per a company announcement, the Board of Directors "modified the compensation arrangements" for directors that were classified as non-employees. Such directors will—going forward—receive "all fees" for their services in Bitcoin instead of cash.

In approving this change, the Board cited its commitment to Bitcoin, "given its ability to serve as a store of value, supported by a robust and public open-source architecture, untethered to sovereign monetary policy."

Under the new arrangement, the amount of Board fees payable to non-employee directors remains unchanged, and, per the announcement, will be nominally denominated in USD. At the time of payment, fees will be converted from USD to Bitcoin, and then deposited to the applicable non-employee director's digital wallet.

MicroStrategy's Bitcoin investments

The news follows MicroStrategy's long line of investments into Bitcoin, which began in August 2020. To date, the company has invested over $5 billion into Bitcoin, making it one of the public companies with the largest Bitcoin holdings.

Companies including Tesla and Square have followed MicroStrategy in adding Bitcoin to their corporate coffers, something that CEO Michael Saylor has described as the "tip of the iceberg" for institutional investment in the cryptocurrency. Saylor predicts that an "avalanche of companies" will follow suit, and has launched online courses on 'Bitcoin for Corporations'.  Some experts have argued that MicroStrategy's investments in Bitcoin have led to it becoming a de facto Bitcoin ETF in the absence of one in the US.