Digital Currency Project Under Discussion In Strasbourg

Strasbourg could soon become the first major French city to adopt a municipal crypto. What was yesterday reserved for Web3 activist circles is now entering the local public debate. The City Council has adopted an unprecedented motion : to study the feasibility of a local digital currency. The goal is to explore new economic, social, and technological avenues. An unprecedented initiative for a major French metropolis, which explores digital levers serving the local economy and citizen participation.

A Motion to Initiate Reflection

While 90 % of Cannes merchants adopted crypto this summer , the city of Strasbourg adopted during a City Council session this Monday, September 29, a motion entitled “Let’s Consider a Local Cryptocurrency in Strasbourg”.

Presented by Caroline Zorn, city councilor, lawyer, and Pirate Party spokesperson, this motion does not yet launch a concrete project but engages the community in an exploratory phase. The goal is to analyze the impacts a municipal crypto could have on the local economy, tourism, and daily life of residents.

Here are the key points highlighted in the motion :

• A potential economic lever: a crypto could boost local commerce and support short supply chains ;

• A local innovation tool : it would allow experimenting with digital uses within the community, with local governance ;

• A citizen-centered project : public consultations are planned to involve Strasbourg residents in the reflection ;

• Attention to the environment : Caroline Zorn cites Bitcoin as an example for its potential, according to her, to “lower the price of energy”, despite frequent criticism of its carbon footprint ;

• An openness to Web3 uses : without prejudging the technology used, the motion leaves the door open to different options, including a local stablecoin.

The municipal opposition, however, expressed reservations. Céline Geissman, opposition councilor, raised environmental concerns often associated with cryptos, while highlighting the technical gap such a project could represent for a local government.

“Some elected officials don’t even receive their emails,” she quipped, pointing out the operational limits of such an ambitious technological shift. Despite these criticisms, the motion was adopted by 19 votes against 12 abstentions, marking the start of a study process, without a precise timetable at this stage.

Challenges, Uncertainties, and Perspectives of a Local Crypto

While the motion does not prejudge any specific technical solution, it opens a vast field of questions. On X (formerly Twitter), Caroline Zorn detailed the vague but deliberately open contours of the reflection : “Is a local cryptocurrency needed ? Should Bitcoin be promoted locally ? Mine ? Have a stablecoin backed by the pretzel…? We’ll see.”

She insists that the primary stakeholders, the citizens, still largely ignore what these technologies can bring them : “In any case, we will talk about it with people who currently know NOTHING about what it can bring.”

This participatory approach suggests that the municipality wants to build the project from the ground up, consulting experts but also simplifying concepts for the general public.

Technically, many uncertainties remain. What infrastructure to use ? What governance to consider ? What guarantees in terms of security, inclusiveness, and transparency ?

Legally, the room for maneuver of a local government is limited. Monetary law is regulated at the European level, and the Bank of France closely monitors experiments concerning digital currencies, not forgetting ongoing efforts around a possible digital euro, which could compete with or complicate any parallel initiative.

Beyond these obstacles, the Strasbourg project could open an unprecedented dialogue space between local institutions, Web3 actors, and citizens. By betting on active education and an exploratory approach, the municipality tests its territory’s receptiveness to alternative forms of economic organization.