MIAMI – MiamiCoin was virtually worthless on Wednesday, but this didn’t stop Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez from going on national television to defend the venture yet again.
In 2021, Suarez told Fox News that the MiamiCoin — which he described as not an involuntary tax and not philanthropy — was a model with the potential to “revolutionize the way governments are funded.”
In 2022, when MiamiCoin lost value, Suarez stood up for MiamiCoin and told Fox News that it was “a success from the perspective of what it has done for the city.”
“It wasn’t a city-sponsored or city-promoted ... initiative. This was something, the city benefited from,” Suarez told Fox News on Wednesday also adding, “Miami hasn’t suffered, what has suffered are the people who invested in it.”
Earlier this year, the city of Miami was able to cash out $5.25 million, which officials allocated to a much-needed rental assistance program. Officials also reported that the city’s digital wallet had $10 million.
OKCoin, a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange platform, suspended MiamiCoin and NewYorkCoin on March 16. Through the CityCoin initiative, miners who were earning yield in Bitcoin had been automatically backing both cryptocurrencies.
OKCoin reported the suspension was preventive because the cryptocurrencies’ limited liquidity had created the possibility of price manipulation and fraudulent activity.