Since Trump, who is close to the cryptocurrency circle, won the election, Bitcoin, as the world's largest cryptocurrency, has seen its market rise sharply, once breaking through the $100,000 mark. However, on December 10 local time, Bitcoin's price briefly fell below $95,000, and has now rebounded to the $97,000 level.

The decline in Bitcoin prices is related to a decision by Microsoft. On that day, Microsoft shareholders voted down the proposal from the U.S. conservative think tank National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) to “embrace Bitcoin,” which suggested using 1% to 5% of Microsoft’s profits to buy Bitcoin.In addition, more and more people in the U.S. economic circle are calling for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be incorporated as reserve assets. According to previous reports from Reference News, Trump announced during his campaign that he would strive to make the U.S. the “global cryptocurrency capital” and plans to establish a “national Bitcoin reserve.”

Regarding such views, the American financial media Bloomberg published an editorial stating that the idea of using Bitcoin as a reserve asset is the biggest cryptocurrency scam in history, as its value lacks real economic activities and cash flow as support.

Buy Bitcoin with 1% to 5% of profits?

Microsoft shareholders voted down the relevant proposal

“Microsoft cannot miss the next wave of technological trends, and Bitcoin is this wave.” NCPPR stated in its submitted report that it is becoming increasingly common for institutions and companies to adopt Bitcoin as a reserve asset. BlackRock, Microsoft’s second-largest shareholder, offers clients a Bitcoin spot ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund). NCPPR suggested using 1% to 5% of Microsoft’s profits to purchase Bitcoin as a means of storing asset value. After shareholders voted down the proposal, Bitcoin's market experienced a severe blow. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the trading price of Bitcoin fell to $94,500 during midday trading on the 10th, while the opening price that day was around $98,300.

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood stated at the shareholders' meeting on the 10th, “Microsoft has been thinking about what the best cryptocurrency strategy is.” Since the second quarter of this year, Microsoft has officially accepted customers to pay with cryptocurrencies. It is currently unclear how much cryptocurrency Microsoft holds. The latest financial report shows that as of the end of September this year, Microsoft held $78.4 billion worth of “cash, cash equivalents, and short-term trading assets.”

American billionaires promoting the proposal:

“Abandon gold, then buy Bitcoin”

The push for the NCPPR proposal is led by American billionaire Michael Saylor, who is also a major shareholder in Microsoft.Michael Saylor

According to Benzinga, the company “MicroStrategy,” founded by Saylor, was originally just a medium-sized software company providing business intelligence consulting and cloud computing services. In mid-2020, its valuation was only $1.1 billion. However, Saylor subsequently announced the company's transformation into a cryptocurrency investment company, heavily investing in Bitcoin and other assets. By December of this year, the company held over 423,000 Bitcoins, which alone were worth over $40 billion at current prices. MicroStrategy is now valued at about $83 billion, and Saylor's personal fortune is approaching $10 billion. Before the shareholders' meeting, Saylor vigorously promoted the NCPPR proposal on social media, tagging Microsoft CEO Nadella and stating, “If you want to easily create trillions of dollars in value for Microsoft shareholders, please contact me and adopt my (reserve Bitcoin) plan.” At the same time, Saylor also strongly advocated for the Federal Reserve to incorporate Bitcoin into national reserve assets, believing that if the U.S. government took action, “it could push Bitcoin prices to historic highs, and the U.S. would become the largest holder of Bitcoin.” Saylor has also stated, “Gold is just a shiny dead rock, and now it’s time to abandon gold, give it a heavy blow, and then buy Bitcoin.”

Bloomberg Editorial:

“The biggest cryptocurrency scam in history”

On the 9th, Bloomberg’s editorial board published an editorial reflecting the mainstream views of the editorial department, stating that the idea of using Bitcoin as a reserve asset is “the biggest cryptocurrency scam in history,” which would greatly harm the interests of the American public. The editorial stated, “Using taxpayer money to buy Bitcoin will not bring any public benefit. Bitcoin has no industrial use, no actual cash flow, and has no connection to real economic activity. It is purely a speculative tool. Its price entirely depends on how much the next bigger fool is willing to pay for it.” The editorial indicated that if the U.S. government were to buy Bitcoin on a large scale, it might have to pay hundreds of billions of dollars, which would undoubtedly further increase the borrowing burden of the U.S. Treasury, raise U.S. bond interest rates, and impact the real economy of the United States. “Moreover, it is very unfair that the government’s purchase of Bitcoin will significantly raise the price of Bitcoin, effectively subsidizing Bitcoin investors with taxpayer money.” The Wall Street Journal pointed out that according to the setup by Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto, the total circulation of Bitcoin is limited to 21 million coins, and according to statistics from the Bitcoin broker River, about 19.8 million Bitcoins have already been mined, leaving only about 6% of Bitcoins yet to be mined. In such a situation, very few people can still obtain new Bitcoins through “mining,” which means that once Bitcoin prices are pushed higher, only existing Bitcoin holders will benefit.