Miami Mayor Says Plans To Make Miami A Bitcoin City

The mayor of Miami says the United States should be mining more Bitcoin (BTC) for national security reasons.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said the United States should issue more Bitcoins for national security reasons, as 90% of the activity is done outside the country. Speaking to journalist Laura Shin, the mayor said the narrative of environmental degradation had come to the stage with more outside mining activity. He noted that the countries responsible for most mining use dirty energy, and that the key to reversing the narrative is in the hands of the United States.

The U.S., led by Miami, could be a mining hub because of the availability of adequate resources, according to the mayor. Suarez added that further mining in the United States would benefit the cryptocurrency community primarily because of clean energy, such as unlimited nuclear power. However, Suarez remains optimistic that the environmental concerns raised by cryptocurrency mining will be a thing of the past as new technologies emerge to alleviate mining power needs:

“I also think that in the future you will see solar and other types of clean energy technologies, hydrogen as a technology that advances mining, and you will see mining happening in different ways. There will be bigger mixed blocks... so I think the technology will make it more efficient, cheaper and less power consuming.”

Here's how Miami Mayor @FrancisSuarez reconciles his interest in Bitcoin, which some say has an outsized environmental impact, against his love for Miami and his desire to mitigate the effects of climate change there.

Do you think more mining in the US is the answer? pic.twitter.com/JAAk1NPSEu

— Laura Shin (@laurashin) March 28, 2021

Plans To Make Miami The Cryptocurrency Capital

A major proponent of bitcoin, Suarez has taken steps to market Miami as the global cryptocurrency capital. In February, the mayor played a key role in Bitcoin reaching an all-time high after the city announced that it would pay municipal workers with cryptocurrencies and agree to pay taxes with Bitcoin. He also announced plans to deposit city funds in cryptocurrency.

Suarez has been making attempts to lure tech companies to Miami. Accordingly, the city is making policy changes to attract more cryptocurrency players. Miami is trying to have a regulatory environment that meets the cryptocurrency exchanges that will operate in the city. The city follows in the footsteps of Wyoming and New York, which have made progress in defining the cryptocurrency ecosystem.