It's the dream of the vast majority of citizens: to stop paying taxes without incurring illegalities. And it's something that could become a reality in the near future, at least that's what the mayor of Miami believes, the city that launched a local crypto-currency in August with which it has already raised more than $7 million and aims to raise a further $60 million over the next year.
"When you think about the possibility of being able to run a government without citizens having to pay taxes, it seems incredible," Mayor Francis Suarez told the Washington Post.
Miami launched the MiamiCoins project less than two months ago in partnership with CityCoins, but without agreement with the city council. This non-profit, open-source computing protocol allows citizens to download software to create new crypto-currencies. The computer user keeps 70% of the currency, and the city the remaining 30%. The same applies if they remain in possession of the coin for a certain period of time. CityCoins stresses that the city can access its 30% at any time and spend the funds as it sees fit.
For the time being, the city has not accessed the funds and will not do so for a period of six months, in order to resolve the possible legal implications of this indirect donation system. "What if there is some kind of fraud, or people sue us? We have no reason to believe that will happen, but anything can happen. We want to be careful," said Suarez.
MiamiCoin is based on a crypto-currency called Stacks. Miners – computers with the right software to solve certain algorithms – hit stacks which, when sent to the CiryCoins platform, can generate MiamiCoins in a kind of lottery. The more stacks you send in, the more chances you have of winning a MiamiCoin.
Currently trading at around $0.03 per coin, MiamiCoin has appreciated by more than 600% since its all-time low on 26 August. In addition to mining, MiamiCoin can be purchased on the Okcoin exchange.
The crypto-city
Miami is committed to becoming a reference point for the world of crypto-currencies. In June, it hosted the world's largest event dedicated to crypto-currencies and, in recent months, the city has welcomed financial companies interested in this new type of transaction, such as Blockchain.com, eToro and Goldman Sachs.
The city council is looking into the possibility that local civil servants who so wish could be paid in bitcoins, or that taxpayers could pay their taxes – while they still exist – with the famous crypto-currency, in the image and likeness of what has already been implemented in El Salvador.
But MiamiCoin's initiative has not gone unnoticed by other US cities such as San Francisco, whose citizens have voted on the CityCoins platform to be next in line for this particular system of crypto-currencies and municipal financing.
