Vancouver City Council Passes Pro-Bitcoin Motion Citing Fiat Challenges

The motion calls for the integration of bitcoin into Vancouver's financial strategies, including establishing a bitcoin reserve.

Dec 12, 2024, 5:02 a.m. UTC

Vancouver, British Columbia's city council has passed a motion to explore the possibility of accepting bitcoin (BTC) for payment of taxes and fees as well as establishing a bitcoin reserve.

The motion, prepared by Mayor Ken Sim, calls for "diversifying the City of Vancouver's financial reserves and payment options to include bitcoin."

"It would be irresponsible for the City of Vancouver to not look at the merits of adding bitcoin to the City’s strategic assets to preserve the City’s financial stability," reads the motion.

The motion calls for City staff to report back to the Council on the feasibility of a "bitcoin-friendly city" strategy by the end of the first quarter of 2025.

This motion marks a significant change in City policy towards BTC, as Vancouver's prior Mayor, Kennedy Stewart tried to outright ban bitcoin ATMs within city limits in 2019 (Vancouver was home to the world's first bitcoin ATM).

Vancouver is also the childhood home of former Binance CEO Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao, and where failed crypto exchange QuadrigaCX was headquartered.

Sam Reynolds

Sam Reynolds is a senior reporter based in Taipei. Sam was part of the CoinDesk team that won the 2023 Gerald Loeb award in the breaking news category for coverage of FTX's collapse. Prior to CoinDesk, he was a reporter with Blockworks and a semiconductor analyst with IDC.