Menu
Tax Notes logo

Miami Will Give Crypto Proceeds to Residents, Mayor Says

Posted on Nov. 15, 2021

Miami's mayor has announced that the city will become the first city in the nation to give its residents some of the proceeds from its new cryptocurrency, which could eventually replace its tax revenue.

During a November 11 interview with the cryptocurrency news website Coindesk.com, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said that in just over three months, the city’s new cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin, has generated about $21 million. If annualized, that would equate to about $80 million, or roughly one-fifth of the city’s tax revenue.

“The city could be a city that runs without taxes, which I think would be revolutionary,” Suarez said.

Suarez — who is affiliated with the Republican Party but was recently reelected to a second term in a nonpartisan contest — said the city will take its first draw on the $20 million and stake the remaining balance in Bitcoin. The city will create digital wallets for its residents and give them Bitcoin directly from the yield of MiamiCoin, he said.

“We’re going to be the first city in America to give a Bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to its residents,” Suarez said.

In August, Miami became the first city in the nation to launch its own cryptocurrency. MiamiCoin was created in partnership with the company CityCoin, which is powered by the Stacks protocol. The city receives 30 percent of the rewards when the cryptocurrency is mined or purchased.

Copy RID