30 Nov 2013 / Logan Banner – VICCO – The city commission in Vicco is set to consider whether to begin paying the police chief’s salary in the virtual currency Bitcoin.
Chief Tony Vaughn made the request during the commission’s regular meeting last week, explaining under his proposed arrangement the city would take out all applicable taxes from his salary as normal, and then convert the take-home pay to Bitcoin, which is then transferred instantly to Vaughn.
Vaughn said this proposal presents another opportunity for the small town of Vicco – with about 300 inhabitants – to make international news as the country’s first municipality to pay one of its employees in the virtual currency. The city has garnered considerable attention since approving a fairness ordinance in January that prohibited discrimination based upon sexual orientation.
“Why not be the first city to have an employee paid in Bitcoin?” Vaughn asked. “Because we’ll go down in history yet again as being the first to do something not only controversial, but totally experimental.”
Bitcoin’s popularity has grown this year as its value skyrocketed over the past few months, reaching a high of $900 per coin earlier this year. It exists only online, and transactions are made publicly over a peer-to-peer network.
Though the federal government does not recognize Bitcoin as an official currency, a federal judge presiding over a fraud case in Texas in which a man was accused of taking part in a Bitcoin-related Ponzi scheme issued a ruling in July recognizing that Bitcoin can be used as a form of currency….. Read more
Photo credit: Cris Richie
