Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim Proposes Bitcoin as Reserve Asset

Sim’s proposal is in line with the global trend of Bitcoin being used as a form of reserve currency. The aggressive BTC purchase strategies of MARA Holdings, MicroStrategy and others are evidence that this is the case. The launch of Bitcoin ETF options by major U.S. Exchanges has boosted the institutional adoption even further. Analysts predict that Bitcoin’s price could also surge by 2025 due to a weakened U.S. Dollar, increasing liquidity and rising adoption metrics.

Vancouver explores adding Bitcoin to city balance sheet

Ken Sim, Vancouver’s mayor since 2022 and a member of the Canadian government, has announced that he plans to add Bitcoin (BTC), as part of the city’s strategy to diversify financial resources, to its balance sheet. Sim presented a motion at a Vancouver City Council meeting on November 26 titled, “Preserving Vancouver’s purchasing strength through diversification in financial resources: Become a Bitcoin friendly city.” It is scheduled to be brought forward on December 11, but it isn’t yet available on city government website.

Mayor Ken Sim

Jeff Booth, a Bitcoin enthusiast and author who participated in a X Spaces conversation on Nov. 26, revealed that the proposal of the mayor aims to make Bitcoin a reserve currency for the city. This proposal is also in line with the ongoing discussions in the United States. In Pennsylvania, lawmakers and members of the U.S. Senate have discussed adopting Bitcoin as a city reserve after 2024.

Mayor Sim has been involved with cryptocurrency long before he was elected. Sim’s A Better City political party accepted bitcoin donations during his mayoral election campaign. Sim’s public comments on Bitcoin and broader adoption of cryptos were limited while he was in office. A recent Global News interview on Nov. 25, revealed that a copy The Bitcoin Standard, by Saifedean AMmous, was in the mayor’s office. This book is read by many crypto enthusiasts and is often cited to encourage Bitcoin adoption.

Sim’s Motion will receive enough support from the Vancouver City Council is still to be determined. Sim said he had fulfilled over 70% of his 94 election promises since taking office. He may make it a top priority now to establish Vancouver as the leader when it comes to crypto.

MARA Boosts Bitcoin Holdings

MARA Holdings also wants a piece of Bitcoin. On Nov. 27, the mining company revealed that proceeds from its recent convertible note offering of $1 billion were used to purchase 6,474 Bitcoin. This acquisition consisted of an initial buy of 5,771 BTC for an average price of $95,395 a coin. Then, an additional 7003 BTC were purchased. MARA has a 36.7% yield per share on Bitcoins held by the company. The treasury currently holds approximately 34,797 BTC, valued at about $3.3 billion.

MARA, as part of its strategy to raise money for convertible debts, also purchased a small portion of the 2026 notes at a price of $200 million. The remaining $160million will be used to purchase more Bitcoin when the Price drops. The strategy is similar to that of MicroStrategy which, using corporate debt built one of the biggest Bitcoin treasuries in the public market.

MicroStrategy has had a Bitcoin strategy in place since at least 2020. The company’s latest $3 billion senior convertible note at 0% rate is part of the 21/21 Plan to raise $42 Billion over three years. MicroStrategy purchased 55,000 BTC between Nov. 18-24 at an average price of $97.862 per coin. The company’s total Bitcoin holdings now stand at approximately 386 700 BTC.

MicroStrategy was criticized for its aggressive plans and for heavily relying on debt in order to finance Bitcoin purchases. Many people claim that this is an unsustainable and risky approach. A sharp drop in Bitcoin’s price could put the company at serious financial risk, even though it won’t be required to repay until 2028. MicroStrategy stock price dropped 25% due to investor fears on November 21.

Bitcoin 2025: Growing money supply fuels the Bitcoin outlook

MicroStrategy and other companies will likely be delighted to learn that analysts are predicting a Bitcoin bull run in 2025. This is a result of the increasing global money supply, as well as a possible decline in the United States Dollar. Bitcoin nearly reached $100,000 on November 22. However, it experienced a slight correction. Some even suggested that the cryptocurrency could go back up to 30 percent. Jamie Coutts is the head crypto analyst for Real Vision and believes that the U.S. Dollar Index’s (DXY), as well as increased liquidity, will lead to a price surge.

Coutts emphasized the historical correlation between Bitcoin and M2 Money Supply, which became positive in May 2024 after a long period of negative growth. This was the first year over year increase since the end 2023. The shift has already led to a 58% increase in Bitcoin’s Current Viral Level=Purple as investors see cryptos as an inflation hedge.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has been injecting liquidity into the M2 global supply, which could lead to a growth of 18% and a total value exceeding $127 trillion by 2025. Coutts forecast that Bitcoin would rise as high as $132,000 next year or higher, but he cautioned that cycles were not linear.

Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. Presidential election will also likely boost Bitcoin 2025’s rally. Bitfinex analysts expect a more risk-tolerant environment and an improved regulatory climate under the new administration. MicroStrategy’s current Bitcoin acquisition strategy may also provide additional upward momentum.

Bitcoin Price Action over the last month (Source:CoinMarketCap )

Bitcoin adoption metrics are also strong. Daily active addresses have surpassed one million, for the first since 2019. This combination of macroeconomics and institutional interest points to a bullish path for crypto in 2019. A potential breakout of the DXY would still be a threat to this forecast.

MIAX Sapphire Offers Bitcoin ETFs

According to a filing with the regulatory authority on November 25, MIAX Sapphire Options Exchange has revised its rules in order to permit options to be listed on three Bitcoin ETFs. MIAX Sapphire can now list options for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF. Miami International Holdings is the exchange, which offers options for spot Bitcoin ETFs.

It happened following a number of regulatory approvals. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allowed Nasdaq in September to list options for the iShares bitcoin Trust ETF. This was the first time that these products had been approved for U.S. Trading. The SEC also granted authorizations in October to NYSE, Cboe and Options Clearing Corporation. In November, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Options Clearing Corporation cleared the last hurdles.

BlackRock’s IBIT ETF had a total of almost $2 billion worth of options contracts as at Nov. 18. This was also the first trading day. The options let traders speculate on Bitcoin’s price by purchasing or selling contracts for “call” and “put”, at specified locations.

This is an important moment in the history of crypto. These products, according to investment managers, will increase institutional adoption and provide Bitcoin investors with a significant upside.

Jeff Park, the head of alpha strategy at Bitwise Invest described this move as a major advancement, which creates exciting opportunities for investors. In January, Spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) were introduced. They have now surpassed 100 billion dollars in net assets.