Ken Sim admits to being ‘orange pilled’ in Bitcoin interview

Bitcoin is soaring to all time highs, and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim wants the city to get in on the action.

Sim provided greater insight into his affinity for the cryptocurrency in an interview Wednesday on a show called Coin Stories, hosted by Natalie Brunell. 

In the 30-minute video interview, Sim tells Brunell he’s been “orange-pilled,” a term referencing one’s dedication to the asset.

“I think it’s the greatest invention in human history,” he added.

Sim is tabling a motion Dec. 11 at city council titled, Preserving of the City’s Purchasing Power Through Diversification of Financial Reserves – Becoming A Bitcoin Friendly City.

When asked by Brunell about the motion, Sim said, “the motion we’re filing doesn’t necessarily say put Bitcoin on the balance sheet.” He added, “It talks about exploring how we can incorporate Bitcoin into the City of Vancouver but as we all know, it could be a great idea. I’ll just leave it at that.”

As per Sim’s motion, “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.” 

Dan Rohde, an assistant professor of law at the University of Windsor who studies central banking and monetary history in Canada, said he questions why a municipality would consider this kind of financial investment.

“The value changes all the time, so why you’d want to keep a volatile asset as a municipality for your reserve fund in order to balance out your expenses in the future is to me just very confusing,” he said.

Rohde added it’s clear who would benefit from the decision, if it were to go ahead.

“The more people and institutions they get buying Bitcoin, the more value is going to go up and that’s good for them, but how this serves the city in any way, I don’t know.”

CTV News asked the mayor’s office for an interview and was told he’s available next week to speak to the motion. The mayor’s office added his priority this week is the city’s 2025 budget.

Bitcoin hit US$100,000 for the first time this week. At one point during the Coin Stories interview, Sim said, “It’s the number one performing financial asset for the last 16 years on the planet. I think it’s crazy we’re not even looking at it.”

During the conversation, Sim pivoted to the city’s affordability crisis, stating, “The big underlying challenge is people can’t afford to live here because our currency is getting debased.”

Rohde doesn’t think pinning the crisis entirely on the Bank of Canada is fair.

“Canadians are suffering an affordability crisis right now specifically with housing and with food – absolutely,” he said. “Whether you think how the central bank is managing the currency is the main cause of that, is it’s own whole factor and it’s a huge one: I would disagree.”

While the interview centred on Sim’s affinity for the cryptocurrency, at one point, he alluded to his re-election plans, stating, “we’re doing politics differently and we’re not worried about re-election per se. We just want to do what’s right.”

Toward the end of the conversation, Sim reaffirmed his belief in what the cryptocurrency could achieve.

“I actually have hope for not just the residents of Vancouver, I have hope for the world,” he told Brunell. “This is actually going to help us solve environmental challenges, we’re going to basically give sovereignty to people, control of their lives and people are going to be able to live in homes. They’re going to be able to do that so how isn’t that cool?”

If passed, the motion would direct staff to explore options to make Vancouver a “Bitcoin Friendly City” by undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the potential to integrate Bitcoin into the city’s financial strategies.

Council will vote on the motion Wednesday.