Santa Monica Approves Bitcoin Office

The Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved the creation of a Bitcoin Office during its July 9 meeting, marking a national first for such digital

Santa Monica, California, is making history by becoming the first city in the United States to establish a Bitcoin Office. Unanimously approved by the Santa Monica City Council during its July 9 meeting, the program will operate at no cost to the city through a partnership with The Proof of Workforce Foundation, a nonprofit organization.

The Bitcoin Office will focus on advancing Bitcoin education, economic recovery, and tourism in Santa Monica, a popular coastal city in California, situated on Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles County. The program will also identify new economic opportunities and explore environmentally sustainable Bitcoin mining using renewable energy.

Vice Mayor Lana Negrete, who proposed the creation of the Bitcoin Office, highlighted the importance of educating residents, students, and businesses about Bitcoin in driving the city's economic recovery and addressing challenges faced by areas like Downtown Santa Monica.

"This is not about the asset or the commodity, it is truly about educating," Negrete said, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. "We have been a leader in so many things … we are currently battling a lot of negative news (and) a retail climate that's really hard for some of our areas like our Downtown Santa Monica area. We’re consistently looking at how can we bring back economic recovery, I think these are some interesting, out of the box ideas we’ve been discussing."

The program is reportedly modeled after El Salvador's Bitcoin Office, which Negrete visited in 2023. El Salvador, which legalized Bitcoin as a legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar in 2021, has been accumulating and earning Bitcoin consistently.

Public comments during the council meeting ranged from enthusiastic support, highlighting the potential for innovation, to cautionary notes on the risks associated with Bitcoin investment. The council also discussed potential legal risks and emphasized the need to clearly communicate that the city does not promote investing in BTC.

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