Detroiters will soon be able to pay their taxes and other city fees with crypto through PayPal, according to a Thursday announcement from Detroit’s Office of the Treasury.
The crypto payment option, which will be offered through a “secure payment platform managed by PayPal,” according to the release, is expected to go live in mid-2025. A spokesperson for the city did not immediately respond to questions about which cryptocurrencies Detroit plans to accept, but PayPal only supports a small handful of tokens — bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash, litecoin, and PayPal’s own stablecoin, PayPal USD.
Once Detroit officially begins accepting crypto payments, it will be the largest U.S. city to do so. Two other cities — Miami Lakes, Florida and Williston, South Dakota — already accept crypto payments for some city fees, utility payments, or taxes, as well as three states — Colorado, Utah and Louisiana. Each has partnered with a third party payment processor like PayPal or BitPay that converts crypto payments into U.S. dollars.
According to the city’s announcement, Detroit’s decision to allow crypto payments comes as part of a larger push to embrace new technologies to foster economic growth and encourage blockchain and technology companies to move to Detroit.
“Detroit is building a technology-friendly environment that empowers residents and entrepreneurs,” said Mayor Mike Duggan in a press statement. “We are excited to be one of the first major U.S. cities to explore blockchains civic applications and allow residents to use their cryptocurrency as a payment option.”
In addition to announcing the new crypto payment option, Detroit is requesting crypto entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas for blockchain “civic applications” with a focus on “enhancing transparency, improving data security and streamlining public services” to the city’s first Director of Entrepreneurship and Economic Opportunity Justin Onwenu.
“This announcement represents our openness to new ideas and dedication to positioning Detroit as a place for entrepreneurs and bold ideas to thrive,” said Onwenu in the press statement. “Blockchain technologies have the potential to drive greater accessibility, efficiency, transparency, and security and we’re excited to hear from entrepreneurs at the forefront of this work.”