Miami mayor Francis Suarez has disclosed that Miami intends to become the first city in the US to offer its residents dividends in Bitcoin (BTC). He shared this bullish information during an interview on November 11, saying Miami will obtain funds to finance this initiative from its cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin (MIA).
In the interview, Mayor Suarez noted that this move is part of Miami’s plans to become the first web 3.0 city in the US. According to him, offering the city’s residents dividends in BTC will help the BTC and blockchain communities.
Mayor Suarez divulged that (MIA) has raked in over $21 million since its launch in August. It is worth noting that Miami only gets to keep 30% of MIA’s proceeds, while its miners take the remaining 70%. With the coin making over $21 million for Miami in a little over three months, Suarez believes it can generate between $60-80 million annually.
According to him, the projected annual revenue is equivalent to approximately one-fifth of Miami’s tax revenue. To this end, he believes the coin’s growth might eventually cover the entire tax revenue, making Miami a tax-free city.
A plan to stake revenue from MIA in BTC
He added that Miami intends to take its first draw on the first $20 million it has made then stake the remaining balance in BTC. In so doing, Miami would get a yield on the BTC it has staked and use the obtained yield to offer its residents dividends. Explaining how this would work, Mayor Suarez noted that Miami plans to create digital wallets for its residents.
He acknowledged that creating digital wallets for all city residents would prove challenging. However, Mayor Suarez noted that the city could determine the number of residents by using data from its taxpayer or voters database. Alternatively, the city can use city addresses.
Per Suarez, Miami would also work with exchanges in the city to let users create digital wallets. He pointed out that the exchanges would also have to create a verification system that prevents people from moving into Miami to get free BTC. Once these systems are in place, he believes the city can start disbursing the BTC.
While this process seems complex, Suarez disclosed that Miami has already invited 5,000 young people from the city to run a pilot on this project. He added that he pledged to give them a few hundred dollars worth of BTC for their work.
Pushing for Miami to embrace crypto as a currency
Suarez added that he is emphasizing BTC adoption because it is an efficient inflation hedge. When asked if Miami residents will eventually embrace BTC as a currency and to pay taxes, the mayor said he does. He praised Miami-Dade county’s commissioner, Danielle Cohen Higgins, saying she is forward-thinking.
According to him, commissioner Higgins is putting up a parallel piece of legislation at the county because Miami needs county and city adoption to enable tax payment in BTC. He added that he sees a world that uses the Satoshi system to make payments.
Mayor Suarez added that people should understand BTC is increasing in value. However, it is more important to increase the utility of the flagship of the cryptocurrency. In so doing, he believes BTC will get more functionality, increasing its value even more.
