McDonald's shareholders' Bitcoin proposal was rejected, the SEC determined that the company has the right not to discuss it.

[McDonald's shareholders' Bitcoin proposal rejected, SEC determines company has the right not to discuss] According to documents disclosed by the SEC, McDonald's has formally rejected the proposal to discuss purchasing Bitcoin at the May shareholder meeting. The controversy began with a proposal from the conservative think tank and company shareholder "National Center for Public Policy," which suggested that McDonald's follow MicroStrategy and include Bitcoin on its balance sheet as a store of value. Documents show that McDonald's legal team submitted an application to the SEC in March, requesting confirmation of the compliance of "not discussing the proposal." In a response dated March 28, the SEC clearly stated that the proposal pertains to the company's routine operational decisions, and under regulatory rules, McDonald's has the right to exclude it from the shareholders' meeting agenda. This incident has once again sparked discussions about corporate allocation of crypto assets. Since Trump’s victory in 2024 propelled Bitcoin to a historic high, several publicly traded companies have faced similar shareholder proposals, but the level of corporate adoption has varied significantly—game retailer GameStop announced in March this year plans to raise $1.5 billion to acquire Bitcoin, while Microsoft shareholders voted down a similar proposal in December last year.