MiamiCoin ($MIA), a project that offers cities a source of revenue through the minting of new cryptocurrency tokens, has seen the value of its token plunge by 95% since its launch. The token, supported by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who calls himself the “most bitcoin-friendly mayor on the planet,” may however see adoption rise in the future.
The price of the cryptocurrency, according to CryptoCompare data, quickly rocketed to nearly $0.05 when it first started trading last year, before plunging to around $0.01 and recovering to the $0.05 mark once again.
Since then, MiamiCoin’s price has been steadily dropping to now trade at $0.004. The cryptocurrency is traded against the U.S. dollar, BTC, and Stacks ($STX) on OKCoin.
The coin has enjoyed support from Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who at one point suggested the cryptocurrency could be used to allow governments to be run “without the citizens having to pay taxes.”
The cryptocurrency is part of a project called CityCoin, which requires users to mine it by acquiring tokens on the STX blockchains to bid for MiamiCoin. The winning bidder receives 70% of the mined MiamiCoin, while the city receives the remaining 30% in STX tokens.
Initially, the project was beneficial for Miami, with Suarez saying the city added $5.25 million to its coffers thanks to CityCoins. Weeks later, Miami Herald quoted Suarez saying he did not know “whether it’s going to work.”
Separately, Quartz has obtained emails from CityCoins to the mayor’s office through a freedom of information act that reveal concerns Suarez’s statements could trip “regulatory wires,” which could mean the project and city could have to return funds to investors if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission found the coin to be an unregistered security.
In other emails, Patrick Stanley, CityCoins’ community lead, has called for the cryptocurrency to be used for local business transactions or even universal basic income. Late last year, Miami announced it was going to give its citizens a “Bitcoin yield” from MiamiCoin to its citizens and has planned to let city employees receive their salaries in BTC.
Francis Suarez remains a popular figure among the cryptocurrency crowd, although some estimate that MiamiCoin may not catch on: as its price drops, STX holders are less incentivized to bid to mine coins.
MiamiCoin, it’s worth noting, may still come back. In statements CityCoins has defended MiamiCoin’s legitimacy as a long-term instrument, rather than a speculative asset that should be looked at in the short-term.
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The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.
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