That is the current status of the new “MiamiCoin” cryptocurrency, according to one of its creators, Patrick Stanley.
It may sound far-fetched but the MiamiCoin project, which kicked off only last week, has already generated nearly $1 million for the city through the efforts of digital “miners.” As it gets mined and programmed, the MiamiCoin protocol, or software, is designed to generate a set contribution that the city itself could, in theory, use at its discretion.
The more active the MiamiCoin protocol is, the more contributions the city receives. The city can receive up to 30 percent of the revenue MiamiCoin generates.
The $1 million figure shows there is keen interest in making MiamiCoin a viable form of incentivizing civic engagement, Stanley said in an interview.
“People love Miami and want to support Miami,” Stanley said. “Traditionally people used to support a city by paying taxes out of obligation. This is a way to effectively pay tribute and donate to a city out of opportunity, and building up a protocol that can power a new generation of applications that couldn’t exist before and now do.
“Ideally, those apps generate way more civic engagement than previously had occurred.”
MIamiCoin is the first attempt by Stanley and his team at CityCoins to establish individual cryptocurrencies for cities. Their goal is to spark interest in the broader cryptocurrency sphere by creating financial rewards for MiamiCoin users — and in the process generate actual dollars for participating municipalities.
The funds can be used however a city wishes.
“The city of Miami can elect to use its growing crypto treasury to benefit the city and its constituents — think new public spaces, improvements to infrastructure, hosting city events, recruiting startups, and more,” CityCoin says on its website.
Right now, the only way to obtain MiamiCoin is to mine it. But cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin has said it plans to list the cryptocurrency soon so it can be bought and sold.
Last month, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez submitted a resolution to have city officials look into capturing the funds that MiamiCoin generates. A city spokesman said in a message that the proposal continues to go through internal administrative channels for due diligence and to understand potential mechanisms to accept the funds.
State and federal statutes prevent municipalities from owning cryptocurrencies, although Tallahassee legislators have begun discussing ways of making Florida more crypto-friendly. As things stand now, Miami would only be able to accept the crypto proceeds after they are converted into dollars.
But Stanley notes the funds can be instantly converted to dollars, so the city can already avoid cryptocurrency on its balance sheet.
Separately, a project being organized by Little Haiti resident Nandy Martin, better known as Captain Haiti, seeks to incentivize Little Haiti residents to clean up their community by rewarding them with a Little Haiti Coin cryptocurrency. In an interview, Martin said Miami officials are also considering discussing the proposal he has submitted to make Little Haiti coins exchangeable for specified goods. The Little Haiti and MiamiCoin projects are not related.
“What am I getting with a Little Haiti Coin? I get to discover Haitian food, buy a hat, or a Haitian drink for the same amount as a Little Haiti coin,” Martin said.
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