Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has put forward proposals to make Vancouver a Bitcoin-friendly city to diversify financial resources and use Bitcoin as part of the city’s reserve. Vancouver already has strong links to cryptocurrency, being the home of the NFT trading game Cryptokitties, having played host to the world’s first blockchain wedding, and having also been the site of the world’s first Bitcoin ATM.
States in the US have mentioned similar possible motions, following Donald Trump’s victory in November, and it looks as though the city could further strengthen its ties with the largest crypto.
Canada And Cryptocurrency
Canada as a whole is considered a crypto-friendly country. The federal government supports blockchain and crypto investigation, and there are no plans to levy further taxes on purchases made with cryptocurrency.
It is even legal for players to bet at cryptocurrency gambling sites, as long as they are either based offshore or in a province with online casino licensing. Crypto casinos are popular with Canadians because they offer instant withdrawals and access to a good variety of games and generous bonuses.
Crypto-Friendly City
Mayor Ken Sim, who is a known supporter of cryptocurrency initiatives, discussed, during a recent city council meeting, the possibility of integrating Bitcoin into the city’s financial reserves.
Sim said that he plans to bring the proposal during the city council meeting on December 11 and will use the opportunity to discuss the possibility of using the cryptocurrency as a means of protecting the economic stability of the city. Exactly what the proposals would entail has not yet been made clear, although details will likely come out in the upcoming meeting.
US Federal Reserve Plans
Vancouver isn’t the first city to mention the possibility of using cryptocurrency in this way. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the US Senate have both mooted the idea of using Bitcoin in this way.
Donald Trump himself stated that he would consider using Bitcoin to wipe out trillions of dollars of national debt, although he never went into more detail about how he would achieve that. The whole US election brought cryptocurrency under the spotlight more than ever before.
Trump adopted Elon Musk as his companion for the latter stages of his campaigning and has since created the D.O.G.E. department, with Musk at the head. Although Musk isn’t, as he has pointed out himself, directly involved in the cryptocurrency market, he is seen as something of a figurehead, especially since his social media messages have sparked massive price increases and decreases in currencies like Dogecoin.
Bitcoin Prices
Since Trump’s victory, Bitcoin has seen a big surge in prices, rising from $70,000 to nearly $100,000. BTC started the year at $45,000, making its ETF-acceptance-fueled increase all the more remarkable. Other coins, including Dogecoin, have also seen significant gains with the likes of Solana and Ripple posting increases as the market expects them to be the next coins to get their own exchange-traded funds. Vancouver clearly doesn’t want to be left behind in the clamber to be the most crypto-forward city in North America.
Cryptocurrency’s total market capitalization has rocketed to more than $3.2 trillion and while BTC’s price is hovering just below $100,000, analysts now expect it to break through psychological resistance at this level. The next natural target for BTC price would be $150,000, although optimistic investors point to a $1 million target.
The First Bitcoin ATM
Vancouver was the site of the first Bitcoin ATM. Bitcoin ATMs enable crypto users to deposit and withdraw funds from their crypto wallets. They can be used as a way to quickly convert crypto to fiat cash, but they can also be used by unbanked users who would otherwise struggle to be able to buy Bitcoin and its like.
Today, there are estimated to be more than 200 such ATMs and Bitcoin tellers across the city, and that number will likely continue to increase as BTC sees even greater adoption.
Mass Blockchain Wedding
Although most often associated with cryptocurrency, blockchain is really a secure, digital ledger. It can be used to record any transaction and it has been touted as being a beneficial means of recording official records like birth certificates, health records, and wedding certificates.
Vancouver was home to the first mass blockchain wedding during the 2019 blockchain conference. Three couples got married and the ceremony was conducted by Doge Preacher. Rather than signing the registry, couples hit Enter to add their formal marriage certificates to the ledger.
Home Of Cryptokitties And More
Cryptokitties is widely considered the first NFT game. It was a huge phenomenon at launch and saw players creating and trading their own crypto kitties. It started a craze for the game type, which remains popular today. Cryptokitties was launched by Dapper Labs, which is a Vancouver-based blockchain company. Dapper Labs has also gone on to create the NBA Top Shot NFT collection which has also proven very popular with fans of non-fungibles.
Other innovative crypto companies like Covalent, which has been described as the Google of blockchain, also launched in the city. BitMEX has its North American office in Vancouver and there are several exchanges headquartered there too.
The city plays host to regular Bitcoin meetups, where those in the cryptocurrency industry can get together to network, forge partnerships, or simply share their love of cryptocurrencies with like-minded people. And, according to some reports, Vancouver also has the highest number of companies that accept crypto, per capita, of any city in the world.
Crypto Mayoral Donations
When running for the mayoral election in April 2022, Ken Sim made headlines when his team said they would accept cryptocurrency donations from supporters. It may well have helped him garner support from the crypto crowd in the same way Donald Trump used his about-turn on cryptocurrency to endear himself to the same crowd.
Vancouver is already considered one of the most crypto-friendly cities in North America. It plays host to regular crypto meet ups, has seen the launch of major blockchain initiatives, and was host to both the first Bitcoin ATM and the world’s first mass blockchain wedding. And the city’s mayor, Ken Lim has embraced cryptocurrency, with his mayoral election campaign accepting Bitcoin donations in 2022.
According to recent reports, he will take the city’s connection to Bitcoin even further if proposals to use the cryptocurrency as a strategic reserve are passed. The proposals will be discussed during the city council meeting on December 12.