Crypto-friendly Miami mayor sees the potential for MiamiCoin to support the city without people having to pay taxes

• MiamiCoin is a crypto launched in August that, when bought or mined, allocates 30% of its reward to the city.
• Mayor Francis Suarez is hoping that the new project will support Miami without its residents having to pay taxes.
• Thus far, the project has sent about $7.1 million to Miami, according to $4.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is hoping that a new cryptocurrency project could one day support the city without its residents having to pay taxes.

$4 launched in August using CityCoins, a nonprofit and opensource protocol that gives investors an avenue to support their city by expanding its crypto treasury while earning for themselves. When bought or mined, it allocates 30% of its reward to the city.

"When you think about the possibility of being able to run a government without the citizens having to pay taxes. That's incredible," Suarez told $4.

Investors can earn through two ways: mining (obtaining cryptos by solving complex equations) and staking (earning rewards for holding certain kinds of cryptos).

When they do either or both, they keep 70% of the reward. The other 30% automatically goes to the city.

Thus far, $4 has sent about $7.1 million to Miami, according to $4, and Suarez thinks MiamiCoin could generate as much as $60 million over the next year.

MiamiCoin, available at crypto exchange Okcoin, is the first to ever launch a city-based token. San Francisco may soon follow, according to CityCoins' website.

CityCoins decided to launch city-based tokens because it believes these will provide a "new community-driven revenue stream for local governments while bringing collaborative technology to its citizens and ecosystem of stakeholders."

Each city that accepts CityCoins will have its own digital wallet, with security handled by a third party. The tokens in the wallet can also be converted into US dollars.

"Every startup city will have its own CityCoin within two years in the United States," Patrick Stanley, founder of CityCoins, $4. "CityCoins' source code is open, so cities can create their own coins without asking CityCoins for help."

Stanley said Miami was a natural choice because of the mayor's openness to crypto. Suarez, who has fast become a $4, has been in the past months rapidly embracing digital assets from hosting the world's biggest bitcoin gathering to courting $4 to set up shop in his city.