Miami Mayor asks to be paid in Bitcoin
Yes, you read that right. Francis Suarez, the Mayor of Miami one of the largest, more populous and also forward thinking cities in the US announced live on Twitter that he will be accepting his next salary paid in full in Bitcoin.
His reaction came after Anthony Pompliano, or Pomp as many people know him, took to Twitter to ask who will be the first US politician to get paid in Bitcoin. If you do not know who Pomp is yet, he is one of the most vocal advocates of Bitcoin and a podcaster.
After doing that, Mayor Suarez tagged in his post Mike Sarasti who is the Director of Technology and Innovation for the City of Miami asking him to help to make it happen.
Some things worth mentioning about Miami is that it has as its goal to become a haven for Bitcoin and Crypto. Last February, the Florida city touted the idea of allowing municipality employees and residents to get paid part of their salary in Bitcoin and this October it looks like they started to take action on that proposal. Furthermore, the Bitcoin 2021 Conference was held in Miami during June where Suarez was one of the keynote speakers.
This is a first for a major US Politician to play openly with the idea of getting paid in Crypto, but it is not the first time for a person of celebrity status to make the news on such topic. American Football Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the legendary Tom Brady have made headlines lately after announcing they will get paid in Bitcoin. Likewise a number of Actors, musicians artists, and other celebrities have jumped on the Bitcoin, and in some cases the NFT train but that is not enough!
Large scale adoption will take place only when everyday people, who live paycheck to paycheck are allowed the option to get their salaries paid in a crypto of their choice. This will be a crucial moment for Bitcoin Cash to shine as normal people will need a token that offers instant transactions with minimal fees to pay for their groceries, their rent, their utilities, their coffees, and their shopping.
These people will not be able to afford getting paid in Bitcoin where transaction are far slower and the fees exorbitant. This is when we can talk about a significant paradigm shift that will improve our lives and that will benefit the people at large and not just a selected few.