According to Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, every Miami resident with a digital wallet will be eligible to receive bitcoin earnings.
“We will be the first city in America to offer bitcoin income as direct earnings to its citizens,” Suarez said in an interview on November 11.
In August, Citycoins launched the cryptocurrency MiamiCoin, which helps finance municipal projects through profit.
Betting on MiamiCoin has earned the city more than $21 million. Its reserve wallet converts MiamiCoin deposits into US dollars based on city government teams. Suarez said that if the refunds continue at the same rate, they will likely be able to fully meet the city’s tax needs.
“Why not tax people less?”
However, residents do not need to own MiamiCoin to be eligible to get free BTC.
“We will create digital wallets for our citizens,” Suarez said. “And we will give them bitcoins directly from MiamiCoin profits.”
He said the ultimate goal is to get Bitcoin into the hands of more and more people.
When it comes to domestic lawmakers, Suarez is one of the main advocates of Bitcoin. Just last week, Suarez and New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that they would be getting their next paycheck in bitcoin. Their promise was quickly fulfilled by Jane Castor, mayor of Tampa Bay, Florida.
In February, Mayor Suarez announced plans to turn Miami into an important cryptocurrency hub by embracing “the most advanced cryptocurrency.” Accordingly, this year’s Bitcoin Conference was held in Miami, attracting the largest audience in the history of the annual event.
Related: Community Engagement and Cryptocurrency: Miami Offers Its Own Digital Currency
After Suarez’s announcement, Miami Coin jumped 18% to a daily high of $0.02369489, according to Coingecko.
Cointelegraph contact the mayor’s office for more information.
