It was announced on Twitter by Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami that the cryptocurrency funds will soon be given out to city residents.
These funds are basically the profits that the city has earned with the help of MiamiCoin, a “CityCoin.” In simple terms, the return came from the city investing some of its funds in MiamiCoin, earning over $21 million in the past three months, CoinDesk reports. These earnings are almost equivalent to one-fifth of the annual tax earnings of the city, showing how significant these earnings were.
“We’re going to be the first city in America to give a bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to its residents,” Suarez told CoinDesk on Thursday.
The residents can either mine or directly buy the coins from the city as well. This means of earning is an innovative way for cities to make additional funds.
However, it is not without its risks. A few experts think that it is a flakey way for cities to rely on these earnings. If things go south, it can create a void for the city’s earnings once the city starts depending on it.
Nevertheless, Suarez is an avid supporter of these funds. He believes that with time, the earnings will be so significant that the citizens might not be required to pay their taxes to the city.
“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,” he told the outlet.
In order to get the funds payments, the residents will have to acquire digital wallets. These wallets can be used for multiple cryptocurrencies.
CityCoin recently announced that it’s also helping New York City mayor Eric Adams launch a similar coin for the Big Apple, called NYCCoin.
“In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor,” the mayor-elect tweeted last week. “NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!”
The citizens of New York were not very welcoming to this addition in their system.
“This city doesn’t need to be the center of an industry of scammers, pyramid schemes, and empty promises,” Polygon video producer Simone de Rochefort tweeted in reply.
