New York City councilman proposes using bitcoins as alternative payment method for fines

  Last Thursday, one of New York City's councilmen, Democrat Mark Levine, submitted a bill before City Hall there that would establish the use of bitcoin [...] https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1085437947660215829/

  Last Thursday, one of New York City's councilmen, Democrat Mark Levine, submitted a bill before the city hall there, envisaging the use of bitcoin as an alternative means of payment for fines or other types of administrative fees, such as court costs.   As Levine assures, this kind of solution would help save the city up to several million dollars a year, which is currently absorbed by, among other things, the transaction costs associated with payment cards.   It was this argument that was supposed to prompt the councilman to file the aforementioned bill in the first place. But before it can be put to a vote - first before the city's technology committee, then possibly before the city council itself - Levine needs to convince as many of his fellow council members as possible to support his initiative.   That task, however, could prove challenging for the Democrat representing the seventh district in northern Manhattan, as he admits that some members of New York City Hall are skeptical of the idea of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, describing them as "Wild West currencies.   As a reason for this perception of bitcoin, Levine points out the still frequent lack of proper knowledge about this new technology, which is unfortunately common even among the local aldermen, despite the fact that New York is the first American state which, thanks to the BitLicense Act, decided to subject trading in digital currencies to precise legal regulations. Work on a bill to regulate local businesses associated with cryptocurrencies, which has been underway for several months, is now entering a critical stage.   As Levine points out, however, his bill is not related to the BitLicense Act. Nor should the final shape of that law affect his proposal.   If all goes according to plan, Mark Lavine's independent idea, could come up for a vote later this June. If it passes, the new law would take effect 180 days after it is passed.   If that were to happen, the city would have to work with the only bitcoin payment provider that would take on the task of processing such transactions and converting them into U.S. dollars. There would certainly be some additional costs involved, but they would still be far less than those currently experienced with credit card transactions, according to Levine.     Photo licensed under Creative Commons: flickr.com Any reproduction, distribution, electronic processing and transmission of content from bitcoin.co.uk website requires prior permission from the portal.   Tags bitcoin cryptocurrencies mandates Mark Levine new york administrative fees law alderman city hall bill