Austin Mayor Launches Exploratory Initiatives for Crypto, Web3

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Regulation News

  • Austin, Texas will begin exploring policy capabilities to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment.
  • The mayor of Austin, Texas, Steve Adler, has fully embraced the discovery of what blockchain technology and cryptocurrency payments can bring to the city by launching two new initiatives.
  • Proposals will be voted on by the city’s council on March 24.

Austin, the second fastest-growing city in Texas, will begin exploring policy capabilities to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment. The city will also explore ways to integrate other Web3 applications in order to improve resident’s lives.

Mayor Steve Adler has fully embraced the discovery of what blockchain technology and cryptocurrency payments can bring to the city by launching two new initiatives.

The aim of the first initiative is to ensure that the city promotes the benefits of blockchain technologies as well as promotes equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in the technological ecosystem.

Adler is set to explore how the city can utilize Web3 and blockchain technology in fields such as supply chain management, smart contracts, as well as the issuance of arts, media, fundraising and identity verification.

The mayor’s second initiative has ordered the city manager to conduct a “fact-finding study” on ways in which the city could adopt Bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related policies. It seems that the mayor is searching for different ways for Austin residents to pay their bills with cryptocurrency.

Under this second initiative, Austin should find ways to allow “the acceptance of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as payment for municipal taxes, fees, and penalties” as the first set of policies to look into.

The scale of the impact that new applications will have on the everyday lives of Austin residents will determine the success of the two initiatives. Proposals will be voted on by the city’s council on March 24.