According to research by Coinbase, more people in the U.S. searched Google for “Bitcoin” than they did for “Kim Kardashian.”
In a Twitter video posted late last night, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced that city commissioners have supported his resolution to explore letting residents pay city fees or property taxes in bitcoin, allowing city employees to receive compensation in bitcoin and giving Miami the opportunity to invest in bitcoin.
"I want to thank the city of Miami commissioners for supporting my resolution, which directs a city manager after analysis, to procure a vendor to be able to offer our employees to get a percentage of their salary in bitcoin, allows our residents to pay for fees in bitcoin and also would allow the city manager to cooperate with Miami accounting to allow taxes to be paid in bitcoin” said the Mayor. “The City of Miami supports efforts to make bitcoin an acceptable currency for us to potentially invest in, in the future.”
First, it was retail investors, then it was institutional investors and now, major cities are looking to park their wealth inside the safety of bitcoin. Suarez’s actions, particularly if they prove successful, could significantly derisk bitcoin for similar cities and make it seem like a more “legitimate” investment.
The mayor ended the video by saying that “it’s wonderful to be a very crypto-forward city, in the City of Miami.”
The video has gone semi viral, with over 1.4 million views, almost 5,000 retweets and 13,400 likes at the time of this writing. It’s likely to garner even more engagement as the weekend begins.
In an indicator that this is going to be a growing trend, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced on Twitter that he would work to make New York City a hub for Bitcoin were he to win a mayoral candidacy there. U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming commented on the message, seemingly making a jab at the city’s restrictive Bitlicense regulation.
Earlier this month, the Bitcoin 2021 conference announced that it was moving to Miami after receiving support from Mayor Suarez for hosting the event.