The City Council will vote Tuesday on a resolution that would encourage the technology's development as well as accept the donation of three bitcoin mining machines from the industry advocacy group Texas Blockchain Council.
The resolution would position the city as "crypto-friendly, welcoming to the industry and to those responsible businesses contributing to the development of this evolving technology."
The three bitcoin mining machines, valued at $2,100, would be given to the city free of charge for a six-month pilot program. It's not clear how much the city will pay to operate the machines or whether the city will earn any revenue.
Representatives for the city declined to comment ahead of Tuesday's vote.
If passed, Fort Worth would join cities like Miami and New York looking to capture investment into bitcoin and other cyptocurrency technology companies.
American Venture Capital firms invested $7.2 billion into cryptocurrencies in 2021, according to reporting by Nasdaq.com cited in the city's resolution.
Bitcoin is one of several digital currencies operating on a technology called "blockchain." It uses a network of computer servers to maintain a digital ledger of transactions.
Each computer in the network maintains an identical copy of the ledger, so no one user can hack or change the data once it has been recorded.
Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin operate on what's called a "proof of work model." High powered computers race to solve a complex math problem, and whichever solves it first is awarded with cryptocurrency.
The process uses high amounts of energy, which critics point to when arguing about the technology's impact on the environment.
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