Microsoft will decide whether to invest in Bitcoin at December shareholder meeting
(CryptoCity) previously reported that Microsoft (Microsoft) will hold its annual shareholder meeting on December 10, at which time shareholders will vote on the proposal to "evaluate investment in Bitcoin."
The proposal was put forward by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a conservative think tank in the United States. They recommended that Microsoft invest at least 1% of the company's total assets in Bitcoin as a way to combat inflation and other general issues. Hedging tools for economic factors.
However, Microsoft's board of directors submitted documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 24, explicitly recommending that shareholders vote against it. The board of directors said in a statement:
"We already have robust processes in place to manage and diversify the company's financial assets, and this proposal to require a public review is unnecessary."
Microsoft's current major shareholders include Vanguard and BlackRock, but these two investment giants have completely different attitudes towards cryptocurrencies: BlackRock recently launched a Bitcoin spot ETF, with assets under management exceeding 26 billion US dollars; while Vanguard Group stated that it does not plan to provide cryptocurrency-related ETF products for the time being.
Moreover, Microsoft's financial strategy has always been conservative, tending to invest large amounts of cash reserves in low-risk assets, such as bonds.
However, Microsoft also accepted Bitcoin payments. Between 2014 and 2018, the Xbox Online Store included Bitcoin as a payment method, but has since stopped this service. Currently, Microsoft is more focused on developing emerging technologies such as AI and has not shown a strong interest in cryptocurrency.
Source: ViralMag Microsoft will decide whether to invest in Bitcoin at its December shareholder meeting
If Microsoft refuses to invest and Bitcoin rises, will it be sued by shareholders?
Although Microsoft's board of directors recommended that shareholders vote against it, the sponsor NCPPR pointed out that if Microsoft decides not to invest in Bitcoin and the price of Bitcoin subsequently rises sharply, the company may face the risk of shareholder lawsuits.
Ethan Peck, deputy director of the NCPPR Free Enterprise Initiative, told Cointelegraph:
“If Microsoft made it publicly clear after its assessment that it was in the best interests of shareholders not to invest in Bitcoin (no doubt based on wavering and biased moral judgment), and Bitcoin then rose as expected, then shareholders might have a case Sue Microsoft."
CoinGecko data shows that about 1.83% of the Bitcoin supply (worth approximately $24.8 billion) is currently held by public companies, with the largest holder being MicroStrategy with 252,220 Bitcoins.
Source: CoinGecko Bitcoin holdings data of global listed companies
NCPPR’s proposal specifically emphasizes that although MicroStrategy’s business scale is only a fraction of Microsoft’s, its stock price performance this year has been more than 300% of Microsoft’s, showing the importance of Bitcoin investment strategies.
Peck added:
"Whether the proposal is passed or not, the actions taken by Bitcoin supporters in the past week to force Microsoft to pay attention to this issue are an important step towards the proposed goal. Not just for Microsoft, but also important for other large enterprises."
(CryptoCity) Previously reported that Bitget Research chief analyst Ryan Lee believes that whether Microsoft invests in Bitcoin may affect market enthusiasm, and Bitcoin may fluctuate more violently this week, with an estimated 70% chance of 66,000. to $75,000, while Ethereum ($ETH) may fluctuate between $2,350 and $3,200.
