The City Council of Vancouver, Canada, has approved the mayor’s proposal to integrate Bitcoin (BTC) into the city’s financial system. The possibility that Vancouver will become a Bitcoin-friendly city is now in its exploration phase.
Will Vancouver become a Bitcoin-friendly city?
The City Council of Vancouver, Canada, has given its approval to the proposal to integrate Bitcoin (BTC) into the city’s financial system.
#VanCityCouncil approves motion 3. Preserving of the City’s Purchasing Power Through Diversification of Financial Reserves – Becoming A Bitcoin Friendly City.
— Vancouver City Clerk (@VanCityClerk) December 11, 2024
“The Vancouver City Council approves motion no. 3. “Preserve the city’s purchasing power through the diversification of financial reserves” – Becoming a Bitcoin-friendly city”
In practice, now the Canadian city must explore if it will succeed in the endeavor of becoming a Bitcoin-friendly city.
The approval came just two weeks after Mayor Ken Sim had presented his motion, primarily proposing to purchase Bitcoin to hold as a reserve.
Vancouver: the greenlight to the mayor’s proposal to integrate Bitcoin
On November 26, the mayor of the Canadian city of Vancouver, Ken Sim, had presented his motion, titled “Preserving the purchasing power of the city through the diversification of financial resources, becoming a Bitcoin-friendly city.”
In general, this motion proposed to integrate bitcoin into Vancouver’s financial strategies. Among others, there is the acceptance of taxes and fees in BTC and the conversion of a part of the city’s financial reserves into BTC.
Specifically, holding a portion of the financial reserves in bitcoin should help Vancouver preserve its purchasing power against the volatility, devaluation, and inflationary pressures of traditional currencies.
The text of the motion also cited as follows:
“Diversifying the financial reserves and payment options of the City of Vancouver to include Bitcoin would not only increase the resilience of the city’s financial portfolio but ultimately benefit the taxpayers”
Another request present in the motion is also for the council staff to evaluate by the end of the first quarter of 2025 the feasibility, risks, and potential benefits of the bitcoin strategy.
The change on the Bitcoin Law requested in El Salvador
Recently, it emerged that the country which first shook the entire world by making Bitcoin legal tender in 2021, El Salvador, needs to review its law.
In fact, it seems that to obtain a loan of 3.3 billion dollars between the IMF, World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank, El Salvador will have to implement changes requested by the IMF.
In practice, to re-enter the agreement with the International Monetary Fund, El Salvador must make voluntary (and no longer mandatory), the choice by Salvadoran merchants to accept BTC as payment.