Miami’s mayor wants to bet on Bitcoin
No time right now?
If Francis Suarez has his way, Bitcoin will soon become a means of payment in Miami. The mayor wants to use the cryptocurrency in many areas, including paying wages.
The plans are far-reaching and quite unusual for a public-law municipality: Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez was able to enforce a resolution on his administrative board, known as the Commission in the USA, that would help Bitcoin in Miami to a position similar to the US dollar. That reports Bloomberg.
If it is up to Suarez, city officials could choose in the future whether they want to receive their remuneration in whole or in part in the cryptocurrency. Citizens could pay administration fees and local taxes in Bitcoin. In addition, Suarez suggests investing part of the community’s assets in Bitcoin.
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Legal framework could cause problems
Before the proposed measures can be taken, however, the city administration should carry out extensive analyzes. The members of the administrative commission want to prevent slipping into a potential disaster. After all, Bitcoin has repeatedly proven to be extremely volatile.
The investment rules of the US state Florida could also prove problematic. They put together a tight belt of rules for municipal investments in financial products. The aim is to protect public assets from being gambled away in overly volatile assets.
Suarez is technophile
Francis Suarez does not contest that. He has been courting companies from Silicon Valley for months and wants to be seen as a progressive administrator who is fundamentally positive about new technologies. The fact that he is up for re-election this year could also play a role.
Suarez made the leap into international coverage only a few days ago when he announced that he wanted to build a tunnel under Miami with Elon Musk’s Boring Company. Musk had given him a price that was 97 percent lower than his own administration’s project estimate.
