Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami since 2017, has stated that he will accept Bitcoin as payment for his next paycheck.
Suarez stated on Twitter on Nov. 2 that he hoped to be the first state or federal legislator in the United States to accept Bitcoin as part of his salary. According to public data, the mayor of Miami earned $97,000 each year between 2016 and 2017, implying that if residents did not choose to boost their income for public service, he would receive a monthly paycheck of more than $8,000 or 0.13 BTC at a price of $63,404.
Suarez noted that rather than relying on the local government to convert his fiat payment into cryptocurrency, he prefers to use Bitwage or Strike.
I’m going to take my next paycheck 100% in bitcoin…problem solved! @Sarasti can you help? https://t.co/v4YdPZ0tYc— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) November 2, 2021
The announcement was made on Election Day in the United States. Many federal posts will not be open until the 2022 midterm elections, but seats for municipal and statewide governments, including the Mayor of Miami, will be up for election. Suarez leads a field of six nonpartisan candidates.
Mayor Suarez, who claims to possess BTC and ETH, has been outspoken about his desire to transform Miami into a crypto hub with “the most progressive crypto regulations” in the country. Many crypto-related businesses and events have come to the city, including the Bitcoin 2021 conference in June and the formation of a $25 million fund by venture capital company Borderless Capital to help blockchain startups operating in the city.
A few mayors in other American communities have likewise pushed for cryptocurrency adoption or otherwise supported digital assets in policy or practice. Mayor Jayson Stewart of Cool Valley, Missouri suggested handing out over $1 million in Bitcoin to the city’s 1,500 citizens in August. Eric Adams, a candidate for mayor of New York City, has stated that the city will become “the centre of Bitcoins.” Today, Adams is also on the ballot.
