Miami Mayor Wants to Move on Municipal Bitcoin Buy This Week
2 min read
As the cryptocurrency market swells in the wake of Teslaโs Bitcoin investment, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has suggested that he wants to move forward on investing some city funds in Bitcoin.
Responding to the news of Teslaโs $1.5 billion Bitcoin buy, influencer Anthony Pompliano wrote that โthe race is on to see what municipality is going to be the first to put Bitcoin on their balance sheet,โ and tagged Suarez, whoโs spent the past few weeks plugging crypto on Twitter.
Suarez dropped a quote tweet: โWorking on a resolution for our commission for this Thursdayโs meeting to get the ball rolling…@elonmuskโs announcement was very helpful…now all we need is for @amazon to adopt and then 
โ
Working on a resolution for our commission for this Thursdayโs meeting to get the ball rolling…@elonmuskโs announcement was very helpful…now all we need is for @amazon to adopt and then
https://t.co/2wnkYD9n58
— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) February 8, 2021
Whether or not the resolution gains any traction on Thursday, itโs a significant gesture from a politician whoโs quickly become one of the most visible crypto boosters in the country. Heโs promised to turn Miami into a kind of crypto mecca, hosted meetings with the Winklevoss twins and Bitcoin mining executives, and bragged on more than one occasion about having lunch with Peter Thiel.
Suarez also recently hired the cityโs first-ever Chief Technology Officer, and has said heโd like to interview fellow cryptocurrency advocate Paris Hilton.
We need to interview @ParisHilton and Carter when you come down to Miami…City Hall Cuban Cafecito is waiting for you
— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) February 6, 2021
Bitcoin is an extremely volatile asset: while its proponents are very much all-in on the promise of long-term viability, most major financial institutions continue to steer clear. MicroStrategy and Square, led by Michael Saylor and Jack Dorsey, respectively, have been leading the Bitcoin charge among publicly-traded companies; while Teslaโs endorsement earlier today may not change the minds of the big banks, itโs part of a small but growing trend among dominant tech companies.
How that dynamic will play out in city governmentโand whether Suarez’s constituents are as bullish as he isโremains unclear.
