Original author: Wall Street News
Reprinted by: Lawrence
Even though Bitcoin has seen a nice rise since Trump was elected as the US President, Microsoft, a technology giant that ranks second in market value among US stocks, is not currently considering allocating Bitcoin.
On Tuesday, December 10, Eastern Time, Microsoft shareholders voted down a proposal to allocate Bitcoin, arguing that Microsoft's existing strategy is already evaluating a variety of investable assets, including Bitcoin, which is part of Microsoft's broader investment framework.
The proposed document, titled "An Assessment of Bitcoin Investments," was submitted by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a conservative think tank in Washington, which argues that Bitcoin is a "good, if not the best, hedge against inflation."
The proposal from NCPPR defines Bitcoin as the responsibility of companies to provide value to shareholders through profit diversification, with the summary proposal video starting by pointing out:
Microsoft cannot miss the next wave of technological trends, and Bitcoin is this wave.
NCPPR believes that adopting Bitcoin will create trillions of dollars in value and eliminate risks for shareholders. The video also echoed the content in the proposal text: the adoption of Bitcoin by institutions and companies is becoming increasingly common, with BlackRock, Microsoft's second-largest shareholder, offering clients a Bitcoin spot ETF.
NCPPR's proposal believes that Bitcoin is "more volatile" than corporate bonds, and therefore suggests not to hold "too much". At the same time, it advises against allowing shareholder value to suffer risks by "completely ignoring Bitcoin". Consequently, it recommends that Microsoft use 1% to 5% of its profits to purchase Bitcoin. The proposal formally requests Microsoft to "assess whether incorporating Bitcoin into the company's balance sheet diversification is in the best long-term interests of shareholders."
After Microsoft's shareholders rejected the proposal to hold Bitcoin, the price of Bitcoin fell back below $95,000 during US stock trading on Tuesday. Data from CoinMarketCap showed that the trading price of Bitcoin fell below $94,500 during the US stock midday session, approaching the intraday low refreshed at the beginning of the Asian market on Tuesday, a drop of over $3,800 from the intraday high of above $98,200 seen earlier in the US stock market.
At the same time, the decline in Meme coins has widened, with CoinMarketCap data showing that Dogecoin (DOGE), ranked seventh in global cryptocurrency market capitalization, has recently dropped over 14% in the last 24 hours, while dogwifhat (WIF), ranked 51st, has fallen over 20% during the day.
Microsoft shareholders rejected the proposal to reduce misinformation and data privacy breach risks related to AI.
Microsoft shareholders also rejected a proposal regarding AI (Artificial Intelligence) risks on Tuesday. This proposal required Microsoft to reduce AI risks ranging from misinformation to data privacy breaches and to disclose such risks.
The proposer of this proposal, the conservative nonprofit organization National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), believes that shareholders "should pay attention to Microsoft's record on data ethics" and mentioned that Open AI, the AI unicorn that Microsoft heavily invests in, has been accused of stealing users' personal information without notification or permission.
The AI proposal on Tuesday raised concerns that Microsoft developers might use data from unethical or illegal sources to train generative AI, such as personal information, copyrighted works, or proprietary business information provided by users.
Comments indicate that the proposal faced by Microsoft's shareholders reflects the demands of investors for companies to consider formulating new transparency and ethical policies in the face of rapidly developing AI technology, for the development and use of AI, including generative AI.
