Miami council supports mayor’s move to offer city worker salaries in Bitcoin

The City Commission of Miami is now looking into the feasibility of allowing Miami residents to pay taxes and receive salaries in Bitcoin.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has proposed an official resolution that would see Bitcoin (BTC) become an acceptable payment instrument in various parts of the city’s administration.

Announcing the news on Twitter, the Mayor said that the city commission has supported the resolution, and is now taking next steps:

“I wanna 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.”

The resolution would also put a proposition before the state legislature that, if successful, would see Bitcoin as an acceptable investment for municipal funds.

Suarez said, “It’s wonderful to be a very crypto-forward city, and I wanna thank my commission colleagues for allowing that to happen.” 

Although the commission approved the resolution 4-1, it significantly reworded its original call, according to a Feb. 11 report by Bloomberg. The commission only agreed to study the feasibility of these steps rather than taking action, as the original proposal reportedly suggested.

Some city commissioners reportedly cautioned against moving into Bitcoin without a close study of the risks. “Maybe you’re ahead of your time, maybe you’re right, but let’s analyze it,” commissioner Manolo Reyes said. Ken Russell, vice-chairman of the city commission, reportedly claimed that he is “certainly not opposed” to the idea of Miami embracing Bitcoin. However, it’s still important to ensure “we all know what we’re getting into,” he said.

Suarez, who is up for re-election in 2021, has been steadily establishing himself as an advocate of new technologies like crypto. The official previously announced his intention to make Miami have “the most progressive crypto laws,” and overtake Silicon Valley as the most Bitcoin-friendly place in the United States.