I'm just referring to this article here with regard to Bitcoin adoption in... Vancouver.
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/03/31/Ken-Sim-Bitcoin-Boosterism-Ballot/
"Ken Sim’s Bitcoin Boosterism Is on the Ballot"
"Should Vancouver’s government bet on risky, scam-friendly crypto? Voters can send a signal this week."
Does the author mean Bitcoin, as in just Bitcoin? Or crypto broadly? Let's find out.
In December, Sim’s ABC majority passed a motion at city council instructing city staff to study making Vancouver a “bitcoin-friendly city.” They are investigating whether municipal transactions (like collecting taxes or paying city staff) could be conducted in bitcoin and other digital tokens. They’re even exploring whether the city’s financial reserves should be invested in crypto.
The author means... Bitcoin right? Bitcoin /= Crypto.
But staff have been instructed to report back by the end of this month. And if the April 5 byelection cements Sim’s ABC majority on council, there’s no telling where he’ll go with it. Voters should think long and hard before giving Sim a mandate to spend any real money on this risky gimmick.
Risky Gimmick? This Gimmick?
Cryptocurrencies are digital tokens that can be traded or (in rare cases) used to purchase actual goods and services.
Yes goods and services is the whole idea.
They are based on complex computer codes that theoretically prevent counterfeiting. However, hackers have had significant success breaking into crypto exchanges — including a recent $1.5-billion heist in Dubai dubbed the “largest known theft of any kind in all time.”
Yes, a giant proof-of-air-token with questionable security practices was stolen... because it's not technically secure. It has nothing to do with Bitcoin or with Vancouver.
Crypto tokens are digitally created through a so-called “mining” process: vast banks of computers running 24 hours per day, in processing centres around the world connected through blockchain systems. This allows the tokens to be traded confidentially, without government oversight.
It's a transparent blockchain right? And what do 'the computers' have to do with trading?
This mining uses incredible amounts of electricity: close to 200 terawatt hours last year globally, equivalent to the total power consumption of a medium-sized country. Sensitive to their growing reputation as polluters, crypto firms pledge to adopt cleaner sources of energy, but that’s greenwashing.
Planes, trains, and automobiles also use energy too right? So does gold mining. So does AI. All of these things add value to society, store value, and run on the internet (in many cases). I argue that something requiring 'no energy' to function... probably doesn't have much value.
The crypto industry, without doubt, is the most economically useless source of new carbon pollution on the planet.
I mean.. is it 'crypto'? Because the vast majority of crypto is proof-of-airtoken. It's not proof-of-work. And if it's a memecoin there's no 'energy' requirement at all, infinite numbers of 'tokens' can be created as easily as control-P. Isn't is obvious to see why that's an issue?
If Memecoins are so bad, isn't the energy requirement for creating a monetary asset a good thing?
The vast majority of crypto holders have no intention of buying stuff with it. They use crypto purely for speculation: hoping to buy low, sell high (or vice versa, if they are short sellers) and pocket the difference.
Don't speak for all of us. Many people want to use Bitcoin (specifically) to save for, acquire, and pay for better goods and services.
But unlike other speculative assets (precious metals, real estate, fine art or company stocks), crypto has no fundamental economic value whatsoever. Even tulip bulbs (which sparked one of the first great speculative manias in the 17th century) have some real underlying value: they make a garden beautiful.
Bitcoin is provably scarce... extremely difficult to make, and highly useful as digital capital. It's... pretty obvious right? This author has clearly never used or memorized a seed phrase, or compared Bitcoin to traditional shiny rocks (gold).
This... is gold.
Crypto coins, in contrast, are just pointlessly complicated arrays of zeros and ones, with no real use to humans at all. That’s why their price can never be stable — and in the long run, as people come to appreciate this fundamental uselessness, that price will tend toward zero.
Yup, it's all going to zero.
The only people who use crypto as actual money (to buy and sell goods and services) are those hiding from the prying eyes of government: criminals and tax evaders.
Really? The author has never zapped? Really?
So while Sim says going all in on crypto will cement Vancouver’s reputation as a technology centre, think again. In practice, it might reinforce another, less savoury dimension of Vancouver’s international brand: a global centre for money laundering and financial scams (through casinos, real estate flips and stock market scams). RCMP documents confirm an epidemic of Canadian cases of crypto-based theft and fraud.
I mean... if you send stablecoins to scammers in Nigeria posing as 'Microsoft'... yes that's theft and fraud. What does that have to do with buying coffee with Bitcoin?
Crypto was invented in the 2000s, associated from the outset with right-wing, libertarian politics. Advocates claim these coins break free from government control over the creation and regulation of money.
Yes that's not incorrect. Governments worldwide are running massive deficits with huge borrowing... because they clearly cannot manage money.
The ABC motion embodied this libertarian pedigree, arguing that through crypto Vancouver would “guard against the volatility, debasement and inflationary pressures of traditional currencies.” In fact, the debasement risk is very much on the other side of the coin.
Nope.
Crypto valuations always swing wildly, because they depend entirely on the collective, unstable faith of other investors. Like a Ponzi scheme, they have value only so long as others believe they have value — and keep buying.
Doesn't the value of Bitcoin... largely depend on Proof-of-Work? Or wait... is the author referring to PoW cryptocurrency... or is he referring to Proof-of-Airtoken memecoins? I mean there is a huge difference right?
So bitcoin and other tokens routinely gain or lose 50 per cent or more in value within days or weeks, as the herd instincts of investors alternate wildly between greed and fear. Pouring city reserves into this circus is a recipe for bankruptcy, not fiscal resilience.
Firstly, isn't this fundamentally about Bitcoin? Advocating for Bitcoin adoption = good. General 'crypto' adoption = not good. What does Bloomberg have to say about it?
From Bloomberg:
- Bitcoin surged past gold and tech stocks in April, sparking debate over its role as a refuge from market turmoil.
- Experts expect Bitcoin to continue to rally as a hedge against risks to the financial system, with some viewing it as more effective than gold due to its decentralized nature.
- Bitcoin's 12% increase since April 1 was driven by investors seeking protection from escalating policy risks and institutional instability.
Oh, OK.
Crypto has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent years, rocked by hacks and thefts, corporate collapses (like the $10-billion collapse of FTX) and regulatory crackdowns that targeted crypto brokers for ignoring standard securities rules.
Bitcoin is not a security. It is not an unregistered security either, the vast majority of governments agree. And FTX collapsed because it was 1) criminal and 2) run by scammers. But why let that get in the way of the Truth?
But the industry has been given a new lease on life by Donald Trump, who wooed crypto adherents (and harvested big donations) during the 2024 U.S. election.
Bitcoin was around long before the 2024 election.
Trump pledged to fire Gary Gensler, then-head of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission, or SEC, on “Day 1” of his administration. Gensler had launched several investigations into shady crypto practices.
Real Bitcoiners don't have an issue with Gary G. Gary G is a Bitcoin Maxi and OG in his own way. And the 'investigations' were into unregistered securities... NOT Bitcoin.
Crypto’s support for Trump is now paying off in spades. Gensler resigned before Trump could fire him (on the day of Trump’s inauguration). Trump nominated crypto-friendly Paul Atkins to replace him. Even before Atkins’ confirmation, the SEC has already abandoned multiple investigations into crypto scams.
The SEC should investigate crypto scams. No-one is denying this. Scammers should never under any circumstances be given free reign. Speaking of crypto scams...
Best of all for the crypto bros, Trump is creating a massive “strategic bitcoin reserve” to hold crypto tokens. In theory, this is supposed to be an analogue to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: stabilizing the price of a volatile commodity in the face of unpredictable shocks.
I think 'tokens' is highly misleading. Bitcoiners who are in favor of a "government reserve" believe that only Bitcoin is neutral and liquid enough to warrant government investment (IF that's a good idea AT ALL.) But this doesn't and can't speak for many Bitcoiners - many of us would prefer LESS government intervention not more.
But oil, unlike crypto, has an actual economic function. Why should government care about stabilizing the price of a speculative asset with no real economic purpose? It might just as well create a strategic reserve for baseball cards.
Bitcoin is a product of energy. It makes for great collateral and a store of value, not to mention a highly secure way of transferring value over great distances over long (ish) time periods. Isn't that useful?
The true motive for Trump’s strategic reserve is to reassure, and eventually bail out, industry insiders who have trillions at risk in an inflated speculative bubble.
Let's pop the bubble baby! That way all the memecoins can go to zero God willing.
As Nobel economist Paul Krugman puts it, Trump’s reserve will “yield... huge profits for a few big players and huge losses for both taxpayers and low-information investors.”
Well if P Krugman says so... I mean he's never been wrong about anything? Clearly the author has clearly evaluated the risks of Bitcoin user-ship and ownership and is intimately familiar with Bitcoin the network and Bitcoin the custodied Bearer Asset... /s
Indeed, Trump and many allies are profiting personally from his shilling for crypto, direct from the White House.
Mr. Trump is a scammer and his behavior is outrageous.
Just before his inauguration, Trump launched a personal crypto coin, called $Trump. It collected $15 billion in initial sales, but its value quickly collapsed (now down 85 per cent from peak). Insiders who sold out early made big profits, as did the brokers who made commissions on the frenetic trading (including a brokerage owned by Trump). This glaring conflict of interest hardly raises an eyebrow in today’s Washington swamp.
That's why in my opinion Mr Trump is a scammer, a con artist, and a stain on the office he holds. In my opinion he should be impeached for the health of the Republic. But not to get off topic...
In both substance and image, Mayor Sim’s crypto flirtation very much channels Trump’s approach.
How? Trump is not a Bitcoiner. He is a Memecoiner with memecoins printed out of thin air... infinite in quantity, completely centralized, and unable to even be traded (IIRC) because they would be securities. Totally dissimilar to Bitcoin no-one should deny this.
With Trumpian hyperbole, Sim calls crypto “the greatest invention ever in human history.”
Again... is it "Bitcoin" or is it "Crypto"? Crypto includes 'memecoins' and NFT scams and unregistered securities. Bitcoin is not about that.
Like Trump, Sim has personal investments in a major crypto exchange, Coinbase Global.
I can't speak to whether this is true or not. What kind of investments?
And Sim wields an iron hand over his own caucus, expelling an unreliable ally, cracking the whip just as Trump silences once-independent-minded Republicans in Congress.
I think we're missing the point here.
The City of Vancouver’s endorsement would merely add fuel to the fire of this volatile, environmentally destructive and fundamentally useless financial fad.
Haha!
But if the April 5 byelection cements Sim’s power, his quixotic, risky vision of a crypto city would come one step closer to reality.
If that means Spending Bitcoin in a voluntary and transparent way with those clever and brave enough to accept it... God Willing!!!