Miami hopes to become the first city in the country to give a “bitcoin yield” to its residents, Mayor Francis Suarez said. NBC 6’s Laura Rodriguez reports
Miami hopes to become the first city in the country to give a "bitcoin yield" to its residents, Mayor Francis Suarez said Thursday.
Speaking during an interview with CoinDesk TV, Suarez said the city is working on a way to create digital wallets for citizens to distribute the crypto yield.
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"We're going to be the first city in America to give a bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to its residents," Suarez said.
Miami hosted a Bitcoin conference earlier this year, and started accepting funds generated through a cryptocurrency, named MiamiCoin. Earlier this month, Suarez said he would take his next paycheck in Bitcoin.
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On Thursday, Suarez said MiamiCoin has already earned $21 million in just over three months, and said it's possible that if it continues to perform it could cover Miami's entire 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," Suarez said.
Suarez said there is a lot of work to be done as far as creating a registraion and verification system for the bitcoin yield. He said it's all part of a bigger innovation plan for Miami.
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"We're trying to create a comprehensive Bitcoin and crypto ecosystem so that we can grab the mantle of the most crypto-friendly city in the U.S.," he said.
