Canadian Government Executive - Volume 27 - Issue 05

THE CRYPTO (R)EVOLUTION? A s if Covid-19 and climate change weren’t already not enough, the world is witness- ing an equally profound disruption of currencies and payment systems, with far- reaching implications just beginning to be understood. Although there are reportedly more than 6,500 such offerings, Bitcoin is the most widely recognized cryptocurrency, already accepted as legal tender in El Sal- vador and the Ukraine. You can soon buy a Tesla with Bitcoin, while MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, Square, and many others are leading the charge to expand Bitcoin payment and trading op- tions. Indeed, Square founder Jack Dorsey refers to Bitcoin as the ‘native’ currency of the Inter- net – and a catalyst for financial empowerment amongst those poorly served or disenfranchised from the traditional banking sector. Although not purely crypto (which runs on blockchain technologies), a related example of such empowerment is the Community Fair Food Market in Halifax, organized by Hope Blooms, a youth-led non-profit which has embraced their own form of digital coin in order BY JEFFREY ROY GOVERNING DIGITALLY 24 / Canadian Government Executive // September/October 2021