Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has steered that charges might be paid with cryptocurrency in future years, regardless of the market crashing by $2 trillion — greater than half of its complete worth — over the previous six months.
Key factors:
- A charges improve of about 4 per cent is anticipated for Gold Coast residents this yr
- It’s highest in a decade however beneath CPI of 5.1 per cent
- The mayor says utilizing cryptocurrency would ship an progressive “sign” to youthful ratepayers, however an educational says extra analysis is required
Because the council prepares handy down its annual funds on June 14, Gold Coast residents can anticipate to see a rates rise of at least 4 per cent — the very best improve in 10 years.
However Mr Tate has additionally introduced that council will search to rent a chief funding officer from the personal sector to encourage “innovation” and examine “joint ventures” on council-owned land.
“Why cannot we pay charges on cryptocurrency if the chance is just not excessive?” he stated.
“It sends a sign that we’re progressive and produce within the youthful era … [but] I am not saying we’re doing it, I am simply saying we’re all the time trying on the subsequent degree.”
Whereas a nationwide blockchain business group has welcomed the prospect, a cryptocurrency researcher has urged extra warning.
Council wants ‘danger urge for food’
The underlying thought of cryptocurrency is that it creates a method of payment that cuts out the middleman, like a financial institution.
Whereas many discover the expertise complicated, chair of business physique Blockchain Australia Adam Poulton stated cryptocurrency was “simply one other type of cash” with an trade price linked to the Australian greenback.
“They will select to obtain that Bitcoin and maintain it themselves, or they will really trade that Bitcoin into Australian {dollars}, referencing that trade price, and have these Australian {dollars} flip up of their checking account.”
However contemplating the worth fluctuations cryptocurrencies experience, together with the existence of scams and the latest market crash, Mr Poulton stated “the council would want to have a look at [its] danger urge for food”.
“The very last thing they’d need to do is settle for $2,000 price of charges, maintain it in Bitcoin and for the Bitcoin value to halve,” he stated.
“The opposite danger is the Bitcoin might go up in worth and so they’ll even have three or 4 thousand {dollars}.”
He stated council might as a substitute settle for 95 per cent of a charges invoice in Australian {dollars} and the remaining 5 per cent in cryptocurrency.
“We’re blissful to danger that different 5 per cent and really maintain that and see what future use circumstances might be used with it,” he stated.
“However there’s plenty of stuff it’s a must to grow to be conversant in to make use of and work together with cryptocurrency in a secure method to defend your monetary wealth.”
Extra time wanted for training
Affiliate Professor Vallipuram Muthukkumarasamy from Griffith College’s Faculty of Info and Communication Expertise stated the mainstreaming of cryptocurrency had been spoken about for years however it nonetheless remained a “speculative funding”.
“In 2015, in that period, a number of hype was there considering ‘it should take over in a yr or two’,” he stated.
He stated whereas the underlying expertise had “plenty of alternative”, implementing it was the difficulty when it got here to giant bureaucratic organisations like native authorities.
“It is a paradigm shift, it is a new expertise,” he stated.
“Council charges, it is open for that, it is definitively a chance however then acceptance, verifying the expertise and implementing that, are points.
“Numerous studying must occur and the boldness constructing must occur with that.”
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