This week, Francis X. Suarez, the mayor of Miami, announced the city’s intent to release 5,000 Ethereum NFTs later this year. Miami will work with Salesforce, Mastercard, and TIME Magazine to carry out the project.
The City’s Crypto Embrace
According to a city press release, the NFTs are being created by 56 different Miami artists, “representing the city’s 56 square mile area.”
“I am thrilled to be partnering with TIME, Mastercard and Salesforce on this initiative. The City of Miami has been on the vanguard of the web3 revolution, and we will continue to employ these new technologies to support our existing businesses while attracting new ones, raise capital and provide experiences for our citizens and those visiting this great City. At the same time, we can also use this novel approach to support local artists and charities,” Mayor Francis X. Suarez enthused in the press release.
Mastercard will provide Miami NFT holders with exclusive privileges such as exclusive event access at restaurants, and private cultural tours in the City.
Salesforce will manage the minting and initial sale of the NFTs via its upcoming NFT Cloud platform, while TIME will be responsible for guiding the strategy, developing the creative aspects, and launching the initiative.
“This initiative will provide a unique opportunity for the City of Miami to build deeper connections with residents and visitors alike. As we’ve evolved TIME into the web3 space over the past year and a half, we have uncovered new ways to engage consumers and create exciting new revenue streams for our industry,” claimed Keith A. Grossman, President of TIME.
The Mayor’s Love for Crypto
Francis Suarez has made himself a clear crypto advocate. The Mayor disclosed to a reporter at Real Vision’s ‘Takeover’ event that he intends to invest a portion of his 401K retirement into his preferred cryptocurrency.
He also declared that he would soon be receiving Bitcoin as payment for his salary—an initiative which he followed through on.
Suarez also helped to secure $25 million in funding from investment firm Borderless Capital to aid blockchain startups and entrepreneurs in the City.
Under Suarez’s governorship, the city introduced MiamiCoin (MIA), an Altcoin for purchase that the City stores in a wallet. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the coin brought in almost $8 million in revenue for the City in just two months.
Since then, Miami has locked up or staked most of its MIA to generate a Bitcoin yield, and has announced plans to provide an as yet undisclosed portion of that yield to Miami residents.
On the Flipside
The bear market is threatening crypto investments.
El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele, who passionately supports crypto, has run up huge losses of as much as 57% of taxpayer money due to the market crash.
To find out more about crypto in Miami, check out the following articles:
https://dailycoin.com/miami-mayor-miami-workers-to-receive-salaries-in-bitcoin/