Coinberry, a Toronto-based digital crypto platform, has formed an agreement with the Town of Innisfil in Ontario , providing its buying service to allow Innisfil to accept cryptocurreny. Innisfil appears to be the first municipality in Canada to accept cryptocurrency.
The partnership is the beginning of a one-year pilot that will use Coinberry’s services to allow residents to pay property taxes with cryptocurrency.
“Leaders who are first to recognize the benefits of the ‘new money economy’ will be the first to reap the rewards.”
Along with this partnership, Coinberry is also announcing the launch of Coinberry Pay, the cryptocurrency payment solution that will allow Innisfil residents to pay their taxes. The new payment option should be ready sometime in April when many residents pay their second installment of property taxes.
“We are proud to be first in taking this bold step by offering this new, exciting payment option to our residents,” said Innisfil Mayor, Lynn Dollin. “There’s no doubt that cryptocurrency is growing in usage and popularity. By getting into this now, we are making sure our municipality is ahead of the game, and signaling to the world that we truly are a future-ready and innovative community.”
In April, Innisfil residents will see a new payment option on the Town of Innisfil’s website, where users will have the option of paying with Bitcoin. Other cryptocurrency options like Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple are expected to come later. Residents will access Innisfil’s digital wallet with Coinberry Pay and pay taxes using bitcoin.
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The crypto platform said it will process the funds in accordance with strict adherence to existing financial regulatory requirements. The funds will be instantly converted to Canadian funds and transferred to the Town of Innisfil.
“Leaders from all levels of government who are first to recognize the benefits of the ‘new money economy’ will be the first to reap the rewards,” said Andrei Poliakov, Coinberry’s CEO and co-founder. “We are extremely pleased [with] achieving a milestone in the history of adoption of cryptocurrency in Canada.”
While Innisfil is the first Canadian municipality to accept cryptocurrency, it is not the only one with digital currency. Last November, Calgary announced it would officially adopt an electronic version of Calgary Dollars, a “digital, instantaneous, and encrypted credit system,” according to the Toronto Star. Calgary Dollars aren’t a true cryptocurrency, however, as they can’t be bought or cashed out. Calgary Dollars are not legal tender, and can only be goods and services within the city, not for tax payments.
Last August, BRD, a Switzerland-based company that provides a wallet for digital currencies, announced a partnership with Coinberry, making it the exclusive bank partner for Canada, a partnership that gave BRD’s 1.2 million total users access to the Canadian platform. Through the partnership, Canadian customers of BRD can use e-Transfers to fund crypto purchases, including bitcoin and Ethereum.
Image courtesy Pixaby.