溫哥華市議員透過動議探索讓這座城市“比特幣友好”

溫哥華市議員週三通過了市長 Ken Sim 的一項動議，旨在讓這座城市“對比特幣友好”，讓工作人員對探索持有加密貨幣儲備和接受虛擬貨幣支付表示贊同。

Vancouver councillors have given city staff the green light to explore holding cryptocurrency in reserve and accepting payments in the virtual currency.

溫哥華市議員已為市政府工作人員開了綠燈，允許他們探索持有加密貨幣作為儲備並接受虛擬貨幣付款。

The motion, put forward by Mayor Ken Sim, passed on Wednesday. It comes after Sim, who is an investor in a cryptocurrency exchange, said he believes investing in bitcoin is the financially responsible thing to do in an age of inflation and market volatility.

該動議由市長 Ken Sim 提出，於週三獲得通過。此前，一家加密貨幣交易所的投資者 Sim 表示，他認為在通貨膨脹和市場波動的時代，投資比特幣是對財務負責的事情。

"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," Sim's motion reads.

西姆的動議寫道：“溫哥華市如果不考慮將比特幣添加到該市戰略資產中以維護該市金融穩定的優點，那將是不負責任的。”

WATCH | Experts and cryptocurrency advocates react to Sim's plan:

觀看 |專家和加密貨幣倡導者對 Sim 的計劃做出了反應：

0:44Vancouver mayor’s plan to add bitcoin to city reserves gets mixed reactions from experts, advocates

0:44溫哥華市長將比特幣納入城市儲備的計劃引起了專家和倡導者的不同反應

After proposing to invest a ‘portion’ of Vancouver's financial reserves in bitcoin, Mayor Sim's plan is getting mixed reactions from experts and cryptocurrency advocates.

在提議將溫哥華財政儲備的「一部分」投資於比特幣後，西姆市長的計劃引起了專家和加密貨幣倡導者的不同反應。

Sim, who is an investor in a cryptocurrency exchange, says he will also personally donate $10,000 in bitcoins to the city.

Sim 是一家加密貨幣交易所的投資者，他表示，他個人還將向該市捐贈 10,000 美元的比特幣。

The mayor holds an investment in cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc., according to his 2024 financial disclosure. The company offers a platform through which bitcoin can be traded.

根據市長 2024 年的財務披露，市長持有加密貨幣交易所 Coinbase Global Inc. 的投資。該公司提供了一個可以交易比特幣的平台。

The mayor says he consulted with the city's auditor general before proposing his motion.

市長表示，在提出動議之前，他諮詢了該市審計長。

On Wednesday, more than a dozen speakers spoke in favour of the idea, including Victoria Lemieux, head of the Blockchain@UBC research cluster.

週三，十幾位發言者支持了這個想法，包括 Blockchain@UBC 研究集群負責人 Victoria Lemieux。

"Paying for city services and infrastructure by, surprisingly, mining bitcoin sounds like it would use up a lot of energy," she told Stephen Quinn, host of CBC's The Early Edition.

「令人驚訝的是，透過開採比特幣來支付城市服務和基礎設施費用聽起來會消耗大量能源，」她告訴 CBC 早期版主持人 Stephen Quinn。

"But there are green efforts afoot in the bitcoin mining sector, and I think we could definitely look at those and how they might benefit paying for things like heating city pools and other sorts of services."

“但比特幣挖礦行業正在進行綠色努力，我認為我們絕對可以研究這些努力，以及它們如何從支付城市泳池供暖和其他類型服務等費用中受益。”

WATCH | Cryptocurrency advocates tout potential of bitcoin:

觀看 |加密貨幣倡導者吹捧比特幣的潛力：

1:08Cryptocurrency advocates tout potential of bitcoin after Vancouver mayor proposes to add it to city reserves

1:08在溫哥華市長提議將比特幣納入城市儲備後，加密貨幣倡導者大肆宣揚比特幣的潛力

After proposing to invest a ‘portion’ of Vancouver's financial reserves in bitcoin, Mayor Sim's plan is getting mixed reactions from experts and cryptocurrency advocates.

在提議將溫哥華財政儲備的「一部分」投資於比特幣後，西姆市長的計劃引起了專家和加密貨幣倡導者的不同反應。

Some experts have expressed skepticism over the environmental upsides of cryptocurrency mining, and raised concerns that cryptocurrency's volatility means it is unsuitable for use in a city's financial reserves.

一些專家對加密貨幣開採對環境的好處表示懷疑，並擔心加密貨幣的波動性意味著它不適合用於城市的金融儲備。

The environmental impact of bitcoin mining largely boils down to the energy source used in the process. Industry analysts have maintained that clean energy has increased in use in recent years, as concern has grown over the amount of power it requires.

比特幣開採對環境的影響很大程度上歸結為該過程中使用的能源。產業分析師堅持認為，近年來清潔能源的使用有所增加，因為人們越來越擔心清潔能源所需的電力。

In this April 2014 file photo, a man arrives for the Inside Bitcoins conference and trade show in New York. (Mark Lennihan/The Associated Press)

在這張 2014 年 4 月的資料照片中，一名男子抵達紐約參加 Inside Bitcoins 會議和貿易展。 （馬克倫尼漢/美聯社）

Green Coun. Pete Fry also expressed concern over the use of cryptocurrency in organized crime.

綠色縣。皮特·弗萊 (Pete Fry) 也對在有組織犯罪中使用加密貨幣表示擔憂。

"In the absence of any really specific acknowledgement of ... the very serious issues around money laundering and the history in this city, I don't think this is a step in the right direction," he said.

他說：“在沒有任何真正具體的認識的情況下……有關洗錢的非常嚴重的問題和這座城市的歷史，我認為這不是朝著正確方向邁出的一步。”

Sim himself was bullish on the use of cryptocurrency, with the mayor having recently described bitcoin as "the greatest invention ever in human history," in an interview with cryptocurrency talk show Coin Stories.

Sim 本人對加密貨幣的使用持樂觀態度，市長最近在接受加密貨幣脫口秀《Coin Stories》採訪時將比特幣描述為「人類歷史上最偉大的發明」。

"Our family is going to donate $10,000 to the City of Vancouver in the form of bitcoin and this is going to be a gift to the city that we love," he told the meeting.

他在會上表示：“我們的家人將以比特幣的形式向溫哥華市捐贈 10,000 美元，這將成為送給我們熱愛的這座城市的禮物。”

"We totally believe in the benefits of this and we're putting our money where our mouth is."

“我們完全相信這樣做的好處，並且我們正在言出必行。”

No framework to use bitcoin

沒有使用比特幣的框架

Sim's ambitions could be stymied by existing laws, which currently don't allow cities to use bitcoin.

西姆的雄心壯志可能會受到現有法律的阻礙，目前法律不允許城市使用比特幣。

Beyond that, the federal government controls the financial framework for the country, says Dan Rohde, assistant professor at the University of Windsor's faculty of law.

溫莎大學法學院助理教授丹‧羅德表示，除此之外，聯邦政府也控制著國家的金融框架。

"I don't even think the provinces would have jurisdiction to, for example, recognize bitcoin as a currency in Canada," he told CBC News on Sunday.

「我甚至不認為各省有管轄權，例如承認比特幣在加拿大是一種貨幣，」他週日告訴 CBC 新聞。

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs said the province's Community Charter, as well as the Vancouver Charter, don't recognize cryptocurrency as payment for "municipal services or other transactions."

住房和市政事務部發言人在聲明中表示，該省的《社區憲章》以及《溫哥華憲章》不承認加密貨幣作為「市政服務或其他交易」的付款方式。

The ministry said local governments are also not permitted to hold financial reserves in cryptocurrency.

該部表示，地方政府也不得持有加密貨幣金融儲備。

A sign advertises a bitcoin cryptocurrency ATM at a shop in Halifax in February 2020. Bitcoin is created, distributed, traded and stored with the use of a decentralized ledger system known as blockchain. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)

2020 年 2 月，哈利法克斯的一家商店裡有一個比特幣加密貨幣 ATM 的廣告看板。 （安德魯沃恩/加拿大通訊社）

It explained that legislation specifies how public funds can be invested or reinvested, and cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are not among the approved options.

它解釋說，立法規定了公共資金如何投資或再投資，而比特幣等加密貨幣並不在批准的選擇之列。

"The intent of the legislation is that local government funds are not exposed to undue risk," a ministry spokesperson said.

「立法的目的是讓地方政府資金不會面臨不當風險，」該部發言人表示。