MIAMI (US) – Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said the city would embrace bitcoin in its operations in what is seen as a move having the potential to fetch dividends by wooing tech firms.
Late on Thursday, the city commission granted approval to the mayor’s proposal to allow bitcoin to be used to pay city workers and for residents and businesses to make fee and tax payments with it.
“Cities like Miami, we’re trying to attract tech town,” he said, adding that “It’s part of a larger play if you will to position Miami as one of the most tech-forward cities in the country.”
The first step requires identifying a third-party vendor to facilitate bitcoin deals. The mayor also wants to explore investing a limited amount of its funds in bitcoin as a long-term hedge asset.
“I firmly believe that when and if Amazon and or Apple adopts bitcoin as a payment structure the dam will essentially break because at that point you’re talking about a very high volume of transactions being able to use bitcoin,” Suarez said. “I just wanted us to be on the cutting edge and sort of ahead of the game.”