The Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, testifies to his determination to make the city the center of cryptocurrency in the United States.
Suarez announced on CoinDesk TV today that the city will pledge a large part of its native cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin, to obtain Bitcoin revenue. In addition, he also stated that Miami will become “the first city in the United States to directly distribute bitcoin proceeds to residents as dividends.”
Previously, only MiamiCoin holders could receive any type of cryptocurrency return, whether it was STX (the native token of Stacks Protocol, MiamiCoin was built on the basis of this protocol) or Bitcoin.
Now, according to today’s announcement, residents will get a Bitcoin wallet and get free Bitcoin, regardless of whether they hold MiamiCoin or not.
MiamiCoin was first announced on August 3, 2021, basically allowing residents to invest in different projects and infrastructure in the city. According to Suarez, funds exchanged for cryptocurrency will be transferred to the city’s treasury. So far, MiamiCoin has generated $21 million in revenue since its launch. Suarez pointed out that if this income is calculated on an annual basis, it is equivalent to approximately one-fifth of Miami’s total annual tax of $400 million.
New York City and Austin are two other US cities that have launched similar projects. CityCoins is an encryption project that provides technical support for these projects. CityCoins is also built on Stacks, which is a protocol that supports smart contracts on the Bitcoin network.
Suarez said that through these smart contracts, he will be able to pledge MiamiCoin and issue bitcoins to citizens.
It is reported that the CityCoin platform recently stated that it plans to establish NYCCoin (NYC), a city cryptocurrency for New York City. It is supported by Stacks and will empower citizens to support, improve and plan for New York City. Users will be able to mine NYCCoin (NYC) from November 10th, 70% of the mining rewards will be distributed to individuals, and 30% of the mining rewards will be sent to the city’s custodial reserve wallet.
Eric Adams, who had previously won the election for mayor of New York City, said that he hopes to make New York City a “crypto-friendly city.” And noticed the recent success of the CityCoins project in Miami. In an interview with Bloomberg, Adams stated that he is committed to investigating “what is preventing the development of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in New York” as part of a greater effort to make New York a “business-friendly” city. As we all know, New York has high barriers to entry for crypto companies. It is the birthplace of BitLicense. BitLicense is the gold standard for licenses, but it is expensive and time-consuming.
Adams also stated that he is particularly concerned about Miami’s recent success in the encryption field and hopes to “friendly competition” with the city in the encryption field. The Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, recently announced that the city has generated $7.1 million in revenue in more than a month through cooperation with the CityCoins agreement. Adams stated that he will also “work towards achieving this goal.”
From MiamiCoin to Bitcoin
However, Suarez believes that deciding who will get a digital wallet “will be a challenge.”
He stated that he was not sure whether it was taxpayers, citizens with a Miami address, or those who voted in Miami who should get a wallet (and some free bitcoin).
After that, he stated that the city will work with various crypto exchanges to help eligible citizens get their wallets, set up accounts, and prevent scammers from “moving to Miami just to get Bitcoin.” He did not specify which exchange will provide services for the project.
According to Suarez, the ultimate goal of this initiative is to make Bitcoin owned by more and more people. “We need to take this step,” he said.
“Yes, Bitcoin is appreciating. Yes, we want you to hold Bitcoin. But at the same time, we also want to increase the utility of Bitcoin.”