Vancouver mayor Ken Sim has launched a fund devoted to supporting the psychological well being of firefighters. Based on new revelations, the fund, which the Vancouver Firefighter Charities administer, is ready to just accept each money donations and digital property, significantly Bitcoin.
Within the assertion launched by the Mayor’s workplace, the event comes from figures launched by the Canadian Psychological Well being Affiliation that present that suicide charges amongst firefighters are 30% increased than these of most of the people, because of the trauma they face on the job.
“So far, donors have pledged a mixed whole of three.5 bitcoin to the fund, a worth equal to roughly C$550,000,” mentioned an announcement from the mayor’s workplace.
Vancouver mayor floats firefighter psychological well being fund
Initially, the Vancouver Fighter Charities had raised about 2.7 million Canadian {dollars} final week throughout a fundraiser. It was through the fundraiser that Sim introduced the fund, explaining to the viewers how it could assist victims. Based on the Mayor’s workplace, the pledges shall be added to the raised funds, noting that it’s going to go a good distance to assist victims of psychological well being points among the many firefighters in Vancouver.
Eric Himmelman, the chief director of the Vancouver Firefighter Charities, mentioned that the group will do its finest to distribute the funds meaningfully. “Any funding and consciousness going in direction of delivering extra psychological well being assist for firefighters who’re struggling is vastly appreciated and needed now greater than ever earlier than,” he added. A report is anticipated to be introduced by workers this fall.
This initiative is coming at a time when there may be elevated volatility within the crypto market. As beforehand reported by Cryptopolitan, the Federal Reserve not too long ago introduced its first rate of interest reduce for 2025, main analysts and consultants to take a position that it might set off bears within the quick time period. As well as, the reduce has awoken whales, who at the moment are shifting property, which, in response to analysts, is perhaps strikes to take earnings earlier than the asset drops additional.
Ken Sim continues to push for a Bitcoin-friendly metropolis
This isn’t Ken Sim’s first brush with digital property, with the Vancouver Mayor mentioning final yr that he’s involved in cryptocurrency investments. He talked about it at a council assembly in November 2024, noting that he plans to current a movement titled, “Preserving the Metropolis’s Buying Energy By way of Diversification of Monetary Assets Changing into a Bitcoin Pleasant Metropolis.”
The push got here at a time when firms have been transferring into Bitcoin, and international locations have been additionally seeking to arrange their Bitcoin strategic reserve. When requested for extra data on his movement, Sim, on the time, didn’t give too many particulars. He famous that he didn’t have any further particulars to share till he submitted the ultimate movement, a transfer that has since triggered division amongst residents in Vancouver.
Based on a number of the residents, Sim seems to be pro-Bitcoin, and so they love him for it. They imagine that he needs Vancouver to grow to be the following Bitcoin-friendly metropolis on this planet. “That appears to be the purpose, so we’ll see the place that goes, but it surely’s thrilling,” a resident mentioned. In the meantime, the thought didn’t appear to go down nicely with Andreas Park, a finance professor on the College of Toronto, who urged warning on these sorts of investments.
“I don’t truly prefer it when authorities officers, in any type, make investments public cash in something,” he mentioned. “It’s not their enterprise to do.” Park talked about that as an alternative of diving headfirst into digital property, the federal government ought to give attention to blockchain know-how, noting that it might be helpful to the complete metropolis.
In the meantime, Sim has continued to push for Vancouver to grow to be a Bitcoin-friendly metropolis, with the mayor quoted in a latest interview saying that pushing for Bitcoin is a hill he’s prepared to die on.
