Miami mayor Francis Suarez has announced that citizens of Miami could soon receive Bitcoin as dividends due to the enormous success of MiamiCoin. In doing so, Miami would become the first city in the United States to give residents crypto as dividends.
Suarez outlined his plans in an interview, stating that the city was planning to give proceeds from MiamiCoin directly to its residents in the form of BTC.
“We’re going to be the first city in America to give out bitcoin as a dividend directly to its residents.”
Distributing BTC To Miami Residents
The mayor explained that he was exploring ways in which the city could distribute the yield from MiamiCoin directly to its residents. Currently, the plan is to create digital wallets for the residents. The city will then deposit the yield from MiamiCoin into these wallets.
Mayor Suarez claims that so far, $22.2 million have been raised from the sale of the MiamiCoin tokens. Residents of Miami buy tokens, stake them, and earn rewards. The city also plans to give MiamiCoin holders certain benefits for their investment in the near future.
According to mayor Suarez, the revenue generated by MiamiCoin over the past three months equals around $80 million if annualized, potentially covering around one-fifth of Miami’s tax revenue.
“You could theoretically at one point pay the entire tax revenue of the city, and the city could be a city that runs without taxes, which I think would be revolutionary.”
Defining Who Is A Miami Resident?
The predicament before city authorities now is how to determine who would receive the Bitcoin in their wallets, with no clear definition of “Miami People.” These could refer to a host of criteria such as residents, taxpayers, voters, or any other criteria set by the city.
Authorities will approach technology companies, which will help create the digital wallets and will also be roped in to put in place a registration system and a verification system to prevent fraud and weed out those individuals who would move to Miami only benefit from the dividends being paid out.
Mayor Suarez admitted that defining who would get the dividends would be a challenge, stating,
“First, you have to define the universe, and that in and of itself is going to be a challenge. Is it going to be, for example, taxpayers, is it going to be people that vote in the city, is it going to be people that have a city address? So that’s going to be a challenge.”
A Huge Bitcoin Backer
Mayor Suarez is a huge cryptocurrency enthusiast and has outlined his vision to make Miami a global hub for blockchain technology and crypto. He has actively participated in several events to promote the crypto space.
To alleviate the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the mayor has also offered energy from the city’s nuclear plants, as he tried to benefit from the exodus of miners from China after the Chinese crackdown on Crypto. He also announced that he plans to receive his first paycheck in Bitcoin, to promote BTC’s use as money.
New York City Launches NYCCoin
CityCoin, the company behind MiamiCoin, has announced that it has launched a similar token in New York, dubbed the NYCCoin. New York mayor-elect Eric Adams is also a huge backer of Bitcoin, with the launch of the token aligning with his vision to make New York the center of the crypto industry.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
