15 Jan 2021
Miami mayor Francis Suarez is
considering putting some of the city’s treasury reserves into bitcoin.
“If I would have done it last
year, I would have made 200% plus [return]. So I would have looked like a
genius,” said Suarez.
Miami mayor Francis Suarez is
considering putting some of the city's treasury reserves into bitcoin (BTC).
"We are looking at the
possibility of diversifying our investment portfolio and having and holding a
percentage of our investments in bitcoin," Suarez told FOX Business in an
interview on Thursday. "If I would have done it last year, I would have
made 200% plus [return]. So I would have looked like a genius."
Suarez said he wants to make Miami "one of the most crypto forward and technological cities" in the country. To that end, the city is looking to create a regulatory framework that makes it "the easiest place" in the U.S. to do crypto business.
"We're looking at laws
from Wyoming, Wisconsin, and New York, a regulatory environment, and we have a
tremendous amount of interest in tech right now," he said. "So we're
looking at a variety of things from being able to make payments in crypto, in
bitcoin, in particular, being able to pay your taxes, being able to pay fees to
the city."
Suarez thinks bitcoin's price
will only go in one direction, given that its supply is limited and as it
becomes more mainstream. "It's only going to go up," said the mayor,
acknowledging that the cryptocurrency is volatile.
Still, "the fact that it
is limited, the fact that other governments use currencies to do a variety of
things that have nothing to do necessarily with the exchange of goods, but to
implement public policy, I think has made bitcoin a very attractive investment
for many people," said Suarez.
The mayor first indicated his
interest in putting the city's treasury reserves into bitcoin in December. Last
week, he sat down with Gemini's Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and said his
mission is to make Miami "the most crypto competitive city on the
planet."
Source The Block