Bill Gates and Microsoft: why crypto remains a strategic taboo

The question is worth asking: how can someone who revolutionized global computing also categorically reject cryptocurrencies? Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, has built a reputation by adopting disruptive technologies. Yet, on crypto, he maintains a distance that few tech figures would dare to show. In 2021, he stated that “if you own less wealth than Elon Musk, it’s better to stay away from Bitcoin.” A reflection that resonates especially when you know that 99.9999999% of the world’s population owns less than Elon Musk.

Missed Opportunities: When Microsoft Could Have Dominated Bitcoin

Let’s go back to 2009. Bitcoin was emerging quietly. At that time, Microsoft could have embodied the future of digital currency. Three factors worked in its favor:

Financial Power. In 2010, Microsoft was worth 200 billion dollars. Today, the Bitcoin ecosystem exceeds 1.5 trillion dollars. The economic lesson is brutal: inaction has a cost.

Technological Infrastructure. An integrated Bitcoin wallet directly into Windows? That would have been transformative. Instead, Microsoft chose to integrate Internet Explorer, for which humanity has still not forgiven it.

Commercial Legitimacy. A man capable of selling the world an operating system displaying the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” could certainly have marketed any innovation. Even Dogecoin might have had a chance.

But here’s the thing: in 2014, Microsoft added Bitcoin payment to its ecosystem. Then, four years later in 2018, it suddenly removed this feature citing market volatility. It’s a justification reminiscent of the excuse “we are abandoning the Internet because there is too much information.”

Fear of Change: A Threat to the Established Order

Bill Gates has regularly described crypto as a “danger to society.” His argument? Bitcoin facilitates criminal activities. An accusation that warrants a counter-question: hasn’t Windows been the preferred infrastructure for cyberattacks, hacking, and viruses? Isn’t it the Microsoft ecosystem that has caused 90% of office workers to encounter the “Not Responding” white screen more often than their loved ones?

The reality is that Bitcoin poses a direct threat to the old financial system. And Microsoft, firmly rooted in that world, has no interest in seeing things shift. The company has always defined itself by two principles: maximum control and minimal openness. The philosophy of crypto is exactly the opposite.

Microsoft Quietly Takes a New Path

However, claiming that Microsoft completely ignores crypto would be inaccurate. The company is actively investing in blockchain through several initiatives:

The cloud platform Azure already offers advanced blockchain solutions. Microsoft is also developing a decentralized identifier (DID), although its implementation remains strangely centralized. Even more curiously, in 2021, Microsoft filed a patent for a “brain activity-based mining system.” Yes, you read that right: transforming the human brain into an ASIC miner. The Orwellian vision of innovation.