温哥华市议员通过动议探索让这座城市“比特币友好”

温哥华市议员周三通过了市长 Ken Sim 的一项动议，旨在让这座城市“对比特币友好”，让工作人员对探索持有加密货币储备和接受虚拟货币支付表示赞同。

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

温哥华市议员已为市政府工作人员开了绿灯，允许他们探索持有加密货币作为储备并接受虚拟货币付款。

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.

该动议由市长 Ken Sim 提出，于周三获得通过。此前，一家加密货币交易所的投资者 Sim 表示，他认为在通货膨胀和市场波动的时代，投资比特币是对财务负责的事情。

"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.

西姆的动议写道：“温哥华市如果不考虑将比特币添加到该市战略资产中以维护该市金融稳定的优点，那将是不负责任的。”

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

观看 |专家和加密货币倡导者对 Sim 的计划做出了反应：

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

0:44温哥华市长将比特币纳入城市储备的计划引起了专家和倡导者的不同反应

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.

在提议将温哥华财政储备的“一部分”投资于比特币后，西姆市长的计划引起了专家和加密货币倡导者的不同反应。

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

Sim 是一家加密货币交易所的投资者，他表示，他个人还将向该市捐赠 10,000 美元的比特币。

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.

根据市长 2024 年的财务披露，该市长持有加密货币交易所 Coinbase Global Inc. 的投资。该公司提供了一个可以交易比特币的平台。

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

市长表示，在提出动议之前，他咨询了该市审计长。

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

周三，十几位发言者支持了这个想法，其中包括 Blockchain@UBC 研究集群负责人 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.

“令人惊讶的是，通过开采比特币来支付城市服务和基础设施费用听起来会消耗大量能源，”她告诉 CBC 早期版主持人斯蒂芬·奎恩 (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."

“但比特币挖矿行业正在进行绿色努力，我认为我们绝对可以研究这些努力，以及它们如何从支付城市泳池供暖和其他类型服务等费用中受益。”

WATCH | Cryptocurrency advocates tout potential of bitcoin:

观看 |加密货币倡导者吹捧比特币的潜力：

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

1:08在温哥华市长提议将比特币纳入城市储备后，加密货币倡导者大肆宣扬比特币的潜力

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.

在提议将温哥华财政储备的“一部分”投资于比特币后，西姆市长的计划引起了专家和加密货币倡导者的不同反应。

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.

一些专家对加密货币开采对环境的好处表示怀疑，并担心加密货币的波动性意味着它不适合用于城市的金融储备。

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.

比特币开采对环境的影响很大程度上归结为该过程中使用的能源。行业分析师坚持认为，近年来清洁能源的使用有所增加，因为人们越来越担心清洁能源所需的电量。

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)

在这张 2014 年 4 月的资料照片中，一名男子抵达纽约参加 Inside Bitcoins 会议和贸易展。 （马克·伦尼汉/美联社）

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

绿色县。皮特·弗莱 (Pete Fry) 还对在有组织犯罪中使用加密货币表示担忧。

"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.

他说：“在没有任何真正具体的认识的情况下……有关洗钱的非常严重的问题和这座城市的历史，我认为这不是朝着正确方向迈出的一步。”

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 本人对加密货币的使用持乐观态度，市长最近在接受加密货币脱口秀《Coin Stories》采访时将比特币描述为“人类历史上最伟大的发明”。

"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.

他在会上表示：“我们的家人将以比特币的形式向温哥华市捐赠 10,000 美元，这将成为送给我们热爱的这座城市的礼物。”

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

“我们完全相信这样做的好处，并且我们正在言出必行。”

No framework to use bitcoin

没有使用比特币的框架

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

西姆的雄心可能会受到现有法律的阻碍，目前法律不允许城市使用比特币。

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.

温莎大学法学院助理教授丹·罗德表示，除此之外，联邦政府还控制着国家的金融框架。

"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.

“我什至不认为各省有管辖权，例如承认比特币在加拿大是一种货币，”他周日告诉 CBC 新闻。

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."

住房和市政事务部发言人在一份声明中表示，该省的《社区宪章》以及《温哥华宪章》不承认加密货币作为“市政服务或其他交易”的付款方式。

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

该部表示，地方政府也不得持有加密货币金融储备。

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里有一个比特币加密货币 ATM 的广告牌。比特币是通过使用称为区块链的去中心化账本系统创建、分发、交易和存储的。 （安德鲁·沃恩/加拿大通讯社）

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

它解释说，立法规定了公共资金如何投资或再投资，而比特币等加密货币并不在批准的选择之列。

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

“立法的目的是让地方政府资金不会面临不当风险，”该部发言人表示。