The city of Miami, USA, has revealed plans to launch a cryptocurrency in the coming months to help raise additional funds for local projects.
The city announced the upcoming release of its own cryptocurrency in August. City officials say it will help boost revenue and expand the local economy.
According to a Newsweek report, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez stated that “the city of Miami could earn millions of dollars as a result of the popularity of MiamiCoin ($MIA), because obviously Miami has now become the Bitcoin capital of the world”.
Miami will use a new service called “CityCoin” to launch MiamiCoin. The service is designed to allow cities to create digital currencies to help raise funds for local projects.
CityCoin offers fundraising options to municipalities
According to the Miami Herald, up to 30% of the funds raised by the new digital asset will be used to pay for the city’s new initiatives. The report says that last week Mayor Suarez introduced a resolution that allowed the city to study the possibility of receiving donations through a new encryption project called “CityCoin.”
The initiative allows municipalities to raise funds by creating specific tokens for their city. The objective is to fund city projects using funds from fans or citizens of the city who wish to participate and support MiamiCoin. As it stands, state and federal laws prohibit cities from accepting or holding any currency other than the dollar, so funds will be converted prior to transfer to Miami.
Miami Chief Information Officer (CIO) Michael Sarasti said the money could be used for “roads, parks, regional resilience,” adding that “the idea is that [MiamiCoin users] can make an investment in the quality of the future of the city”. Sarasti adds that the resources must be used because the CityCoin protocol establishes that the 30% allocated cannot be used for other purposes.
Although the mayor’s resolution passed unanimously, reports indicate that several commissioners are unsure whether CityCoin can be trusted to keep its share of the business. CityCoin founder Patrick Stanley allayed these fears by reminding employees that the software exists to automatically transfer digital currency to the city in US dollars.
The $MIA launch is due on Wednesday (3) and will mark CityCoin’s first project to hit the market. So far, San Francisco is the only other city confirmed to have joined the project, but so far it’s unclear when the $SF will be released.