Panama City's Mayor Hints at Building a Bitcoin Reserve Fund

Panama City's mayor stirred up talk this week when he hinted at building a city-level Bitcoin fund. It all started with a single line on social media.

Panama City's mayor, Mayer Mizrachi, has hinted at the possibility of creating a city-level Bitcoin fund. The idea sparked discussion this week following a post by Mizrachi on X.

"Bitcoin Reserve," Mizrachi wrote on May 16.

The post came after meeting with Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert, two figures prominent in El Salvador's Bitcoin adoption.

Local sources say the meeting focused on discussing the technical aspects of Bitcoin policy with Mizrachi. While Mizrachi declined to comment further, the timing of the post, shared as he was heading to the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, sparked speculation of further announcements.

"We sat down with Mayor Mizrachi and discussed how to introduce Bitcoin Reserve to city level in Panama," Herbert post on X.

The initiative would require a vote in the National Assembly to create a formal Bitcoin reserve. Lawmakers need to draft and approve a bill, setting off a process that could involve several stages.

Committees would study the proposal, leading to debates, amendments, and checks on the budgetary implications. Only after this process could the city begin holding Bitcoin in its accounts.

"Panama City to introduce El Salvador’s ‘What is Money’ financial literacy schoolbooks to their new digital libraries. A regional Central American bitcoin block is emerging!"

Mizrachi has previously announced that Panama City will accept Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, and USDC once the payments system is ready. This integration involves creating crypto-to-fiat payment rails, which could be handled by banks or fintech partners, and setting up secure wallets to store any coins the city receives.

While no launch date has been set, plans are already underway to introduce crypto payments in Panama City.

In other crypto news, Strategy Corp, the firm headed by Michael Saylor, plans to raise $84 billion by selling stock and convertible preferred stock.

The funds will be used to further increase the company's Bitcoin holdings and expand its operations.

Announced on Wednesday, the initiative will also see Strategy Corp sell $21 billion in stock and set a new debt limit of $42 billion, aiming to borrow an additional $14.6 billion.

"We are allocating capital to the highest and best use, which is to increase our Bitcoin holdings and fund the company's expansion plans in new and existing domains," Saylor stated in a press release.