It will surely be an excellent time to be a Miami City resident in the coming future. As it’s been long since a city rewarded anyone for being a resident. Let alone rewarding you with cryptocurrency.
On a Thursday morning interview with CoinDesk TV, Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez made a pleasant but surprising announcement. He said that the city would soon give out a ‘Bitcoin yield’ to its citizens from its crypto.
A statement which he made in an interview on the show ‘First Mover.’
First Mover is the flagship show that gives investors stories impacting digital assets in the global market. Its hosts are CoinDesk’s Christine Lee, Lawrence Lewitinn, and Emily Parker. It features high-profile guests dealing with crypto; traders, analysts, newsmakers, influencers, and trend-watchers.
A Friend to the BTC?
Mayor Francis has been an ardent promoter of Bitcoin. Going against assumptions on the state and cryptocurrency, the Mayor has been at the forefront of championing technological advancements, especially those relating to crypto.
While speaking to FOX Business a few days ago, mayor Suarez made it clear that “manipulated central bank currency systems” was the main driver for his move.
He also wants to provide other city employees with the option of receiving salaries in Bitcoin, partially or in whole.
The Interview: Miami Bitcoin Yield
Mayor Francis Suarez was invited to speak on his plan to make the City a Bitcoin hub while divulging details on his plan to take the next paycheck in Bitcoin, as he had earlier said.
And while speaking from Florida via video call on Veteran’s Day, Mayor Suarez strategically said that the crypto shutdown happening in China was a golden opportunity for the U.S.A. A view shared by many in the country and, if taken seriously, could make the U.S a record-breaking holder of Bitcoin.
The Mayor went on ahead to say that;
“We’re going to be the first city in America to give a bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to its residents.”
The source of the said yield is the staking of the City’s cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin. The coin was introduced earlier in the year and has earned the City over $21 million in the past three months. The Mayor noted that if you were to annualize that revenue, it would equal roughly one-fifth of Miami’s total annual tax revenue of $400 million.
“The payment will be done through a digital wallet for which the city will work with a variety of cryptocurrency exchanges to allow its residents to acquire a digital wallet, register and get verified,” the Mayor said.
The Mayor, then again confirmed the information about his ‘controversial Bitcoin salary’.
“Our CIO was the first employee to take a percentage of his salary in bitcoin and I’m going to be employee number two,” the Mayor said. “I’m taking 100% of my salary in bitcoin.”
The New Home of Bitcoin?
Under the leadership of Mayor Francis Suarez, the City of Miami has strongly come out as a crypto enabler. In general, the City has been trying to create an ecosystem that will allow cryptocurrency to flourish, especially Bitcoin.
How, you might ask?
The Mayor outlined the following developments to answer this question.
- The City has recently welcomed major crypto-exchanges like blockchain.com and etoro to have their headquarters within it.
- Miami has received a major FTX sponsorship for $200 million for the naming rights for the City’s arena
- Miami is making plans to have the Bitcoin conference, which is the largest globally, moving from L.A to Miami.
- The City has also been talking to a nuclear power provider. To make plans on how it will be able to mine Bitcoin sustainably.