On Thursday, Mayor Francis Suarez tweeted an interview in which he said the city of Miami will give its residents Bitcoin wallets and pay them a dividend for staking the city’s cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin. In the past Suarez has said he would seek to use MiamiCoin, launched in August, to eliminate residents’ city taxes.
Fast facts
- Suarez told an interviewer at Coindesk TV, “We’re going to be the first city in America to give a Bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to its residents.”
- MiamiCoin is the first U.S. city cryptocurrency, developed by CityCoins.
- The crypto-friendly mayor also announced last week that he would be the first U.S. elected official to take a paycheck in Bitcoin.
- Miami’s crypto activities have gained a high profile and sparked friendly competition with New York City, whose mayor-elect, Eric Adams, said he admired Miami’s cryptocurrency and would take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin. “In New York, we always go big,” he tweeted to Suarez.
- NYCCoin, also organized and run by CityCoins, launched on Wednesday. After a 24-hour period, mining began on Thursday morning.