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Vancouver City Council passed a motion on Wednesday to make the city “bitcoin friendly,” but it’s likely to hit provincial roadblocks.
The motion was submitted by Mayor Ken Sim, who also did so admitted to having ‘orange pills’, a term used by bitcoin supporters to describe their dedication to ownership.
It was passed when ABC councilors Rebecca Bligh and Lisa Dominato abstained. Green councilors Adriane Carr and Pete Fry voted against.
The motion asks staff to explore options including the possibility of paying municipal taxes and fees in Bitcoin, “as well as the possible conversion of a portion of the City’s financial reserves into Bitcoin.”
When asked about criticism of buying Bitcoin with public funds to hold in reserve, Sim said this is a valid concern, and reiterated that he was not providing investment advice.
“Bitcoin has also been the best performing asset in the world for the past 16 years,” he said. “If you look at it in the long term, volatility is not that big of a problem.”
According to his 2023 financial disclosures, Sim has some investments in a crypto exchange and a bitcoin ETF. He quickly resolved questions about conflicts of interest.
“It’s not even about the perception of a conflict,” he said, adding that he “also had legal counsel do it.”
Fry said he had some concerns about the motion, especially regarding the cryptocurrency used for money laundering.
“I don’t think it’s a well thought out piece, and I think again about the already very well known problems that we have in the city of Vancouver with money laundering and think that this will probably facilitate those problems even further,” he said . said.
When asked if these plans are in line with the province’s Community Charter, which helps guide local governments, Sim said there are obstacles.
“We want to look at how we can integrate Bitcoin as part of that solution,” he said. “We can figure out everything else later. That is the entrepreneurial spirit.”
In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs said “neither the Community Charter nor the Vancouver Charter recognizes the use of cryptocurrency as a form of payment for municipal services or other transactions.”
The province added that it is not considering changing legislation for local governments to allow investments in cryptocurrency, saying: “Local governments in British Columbia, including the City of Vancouver, cannot maintain financial reserves or make investments using of cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin.”
Sim appears undeterred, telling CTV News he plans to visit El Salvador next year at his own expense. The country was the first to use Bitcoin as legal tender.
When asked if he believed Bitcoin was still the greatest human invention, he said: “I’m going to get in trouble for saying this, but I do. There has never been a time when we could create very sound money that could not be manipulated by any person, company or country, and that is a big problem.”
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