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Helene Braun
Helene is a U.S. markets reporter at CoinDesk, covering the US economy, the Fed, and bitcoin. She is a recent graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program.
The City of Miami will soon give out a “bitcoin yield” from the staking of its cryptocurrency to its citizens, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced on CoinDesk TV Thursday morning.
“We’re going to be the first city in America to give a bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to its residents,” Suarez said.
The yield comes from the staking of the city’s own cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin, which was introduced early this year and has already earned over $21 million in the past three months for Miami. Suarez noted that if you were to annualize that revenue, it would equal roughly one-fifth of Miami’s total annual tax revenue of $400 million.
The city will make the payments through a digital wallet and will work with a variety of cryptocurrency exchanges to allow its residents to acquire a wallet, register and get verified, the mayor said.
“[Mayor Suarez] just turned his city into an oil-producing country that gives bitcoin yield to its citizens. That’s incredible,” Community Lead for CityCoins Patrick Stanley told CoinDesk TV. CityCoins is the organization that set up and runs MiamiCoin.
In the long run, Suarez said the approach could potentially eliminate the need for Miami residents to pay taxes, which would be “revolutionary.”
“I do see very quickly a world where the satoshi system is what is used to make payments,” Mayor Suarez said. “We need for people to understand that … yes, we want you to hold bitcoin but we also want to increase the utility of bitcoin.”
Read more: CityCoin’s Plan for NYCCoin Is Welcomed by Mayor-Elect Adams
