MicroStrategy will now pay non-employee board members entirely in bitcoin

• MicroStrategy said it is paying its non-employee directors entirely in bitcoin instead of cash.
• Under the new arrangement, compensation will be converted to bitcoin from US dollars.
• This move reinforces the board's commitment to bitcoin and its ability to serve as a store of value.
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MicroStrategy on Monday said it is paying non-employee board members entirely in bitcoin instead of cash.

Company founder and CEO Michael Saylor made the announcement on Twitter, accompanied by a Form 8-K.

"In approving bitcoin as a form of compensation for Board service, 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," the firm said.

Under the new arrangement, the compensation will be converted to bitcoin from US dollars and will be deposited into the non-employee directors' digital wallets. The fees payable are unchanged.

The move was cheered on by bitcoin bulls such as Anthony Pompliano, who called Saylor a legend, and Tyler Winklevoss, who said bitcoin is "the ultimate exit strategy."

Saylor's announcement follows the company's last $15 million bitcoin purchase on April 5. The business intelligence firm's total bitcoin holdings are now worth almost $5.29 billion.

MicroStrategy, the first corporation to directly purchase bitcoin, made its first $250 million investment in August of 2020 and announced that it was using existing cash on its balance sheet to acquire more of the digital currency.

Saylor has long been an advocate of digital currencies, especially bitcoin, and has been vocal about his stance. The bitcoin evangelist in February this year said 2021 is the "year of institutional investment" in cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin this year been embraced by major institutions including Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, Tesla, PayPal, and Visa.

The world's most popular cryptocurrency rose as much as 2.6% to $61,229 on Monday as crypto advocates gear up for Coinbase's direct listing on Wednesday. The surge took the coin close to its all-time high of $61,742 reached on March 13.