MiamiCoin — Modern Crypto Adoption

5 min readOct 17, 2021

Miami is the first US municipality to accept cryptocurrency contributions through CityCoins.

“What’s interesting about Bitcoin is that its use case has essentially been a store of value, and the question is, does MiamiCoin remain a store of value … or does it have a different use case? We feel that if MiamiCoin metamorphoses into a currency … there exists a possibility that it could have wide use and applicability.” — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez

Disclaimer: I own MiamiCoin and this is no financial advice.

MiamiCoin

MiamiCoin 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 Miami Coins are mined, it allocates 30% of its reward to the city. The rest, 70%, is allocated to investors that stake their MiamiCoins — that means they look up their coins and hold them for a fixed amount of time. According to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, the city has already raised more than $17 Million in donations via this process.

If you believe that crypto is here to stay and you believe that Bitcoin is a superior store of value, you should look more into MiamiCoin which is built on the Stacks Protocol.

Before I dive into the 4 reasons why I invested in MiamiCoin, we need to understand Stacks, the underlying technology of MiamiCoin.

Stacks ($STX)

Stacks ($STX) is a layer-one blockchain that enables decentralized apps (Dapps) and smart contracts. The founders of Stacks view Bitcoin as the strongest sovereign blockchain and build the first consensus algorithm between two blockchains, called Proof of Transfer (PoX), that connects the Bitcoin and the Stacks blockchains and extends the functionality of Bitcoin. So to mine new Stacks blocks, miners need to provide Bitcoin and are chosen by chance. STX miners can increase the likelihood of winning $STX by providing more Bitcoin to the pool. All Bitcoin that is used in the mining process, will be distributed as rewards to $STX holders that decide to stake their holdings.

If you like to learn more, I would highly advise you to read the white paper about Stacks:

CityCoins

MiamiCoin ($MIA) is built by CityCoins. CityCoins uses Stacks to create programmable city-based tokens that unlock a new community-driven revenue stream for local governments. Each city that accepts CityCoins will have a designated wallet that is custodied for them and can be auto-converted into $USD. CityCoins creator Patrick Stanley said in a press release:

“It is exciting that $MIA is the first CityCoin, as Miami has long been an epicenter of culture and innovation in the US. We’re confident that MiamiCoin will demonstrate to other cities that adopting new technologies can propel local initiatives, improve city infrastructure, and more.” — Patrick Stanley

How to mine MiamiCoins?

CityCoins like $MIA are mined by forwarding Stacks tokens (STX) into a CityCoins smart contract. 30% of miners’ forwarded STX is directed towards a wallet reserved for Miami, and the remaining 70% are distributed to MiamiCoin holders that stake their coins.

Where to buy MiamiCoins?

Right now, the crypto exchange Okcoin is the only exchange to list MiamiCoin ($MIA). You can start investing in $MIA coin today and receive a FREE $50 in Bitcoin for signing up with this link.

Where to stake MiamiCoins?

You can stake your MiamiCoins on Okcoin to receive Stacks. Every cycle is fixed by 15 days and you can stake up to 12 cycles. The current estimated APY on Okcoin is currently 430%.

One reason why the APY is so high offers the following Twitter user:

Investment Reasons

1) Support crypto adoption: It’s the first time a major US city or municipality is accepting cryptocurrency contributions through the novel concept of CityCoins. Wheater you like it or not, getting adopted on a city/municipality level is a first step to get blockchain technologies in the hands of the wider public. According to Patrick Stanley, the founder of CityCoins, every startup city will have its own CityCoin within two years in the United States. By buying MiamiCoin, you can invest in the first stage of this development.

2) Support a smart government: Mayor Suarez has a clear strategy to establish Miami as the world’s capital for crypto:

“We were the first city in America, the second city in the world to publish Satoshi’s White Paper on Bitcoin. We were the first city to begin the process of allowing our employees to get paid in Bitcoin and allowing our residents to pay fees and taxes in Bitcoin.” — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez

With MiamiCoin, you can support these initiatives and you can bet on Miami’s further success. It’s a way of investing in municipal equity.

In addition, the Major Francis Suarez “threw a lot of technical diligence at it from experts that he knows very closely,” Stanley said. “He threw a whole legal team at it, his financial controllers at it, and the City of Miami is acting like a startup. They’re not a typical city, so it’s full of very sharp people who move quickly and carefully.”

On top of this, MiamiCoin could offer endless possibilities to $MIA holders as it is programmable money. With MiamiCoins, you could for example get access to museums and events or get discounts on specific things.

3) Get Stacks/Bitcoin exposure: MiamiCoin gives you as an investor great exposure to Stacks and Bitcoin. By staking your MiamiCoins you earn Stacks every 15 days (current APY: 430%). These Stacks can be used to earn Bitcoin (current APY: 10%).

4) Enter an asymmetrical risk-reward opportunity: MiamiCoin just launched and has a current market cap of $50M. This could present an asymmetrical risk-reward opportunity, especially if you believe that the price of Bitcoin and Stacks will go up over time.

The low market cap with the high staking rewards offers a great entry point to own and stake your MiamiCoin for Stacks and Bitcoin while supporting Miami and its current crypto strategy.

It’s still very early.