Miami mayor says he still takes salary in Bitcoin amid crypto winter

Miami mayor (Florida, USA) Francis Suárez said that he continues to receive his salary in Bitcoin, despite bear market. The report comes from The Block.

“I just bought a little [Bitcoin] yesterday,” he said at the MiamiWeb3 summit.

In November 2021, Suárez announced plans to become the first politician in the United States to be paid entirely in digital gold. He made the statement a week before Bitcoin hit an all-time high at $69,000.

Since then, the price of the first cryptocurrency has fallen by more than a factor of four. At the time of writing the asset was trading around $17,100 with a market cap of about $329 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Suárez explained that the Miami mayor’s salary is not his sole source of income. He also earns as a lawyer and investor.

“We must remember that this is a new technology. Not every iteration will be successful. Not every company will succeed,” added Suárez.

Against the backdrop of the FTX crisis he also called for active regulation that would protect retail investors from fraud, but not harm the nascent crypto industry.

Earlier, the Miami-Dade County authorities разорвали business ties with FTX and removed the name of the Bitcoin exchange from the NBA Miami Heat arena, which переименовали в FTX Arena в 2021 году.

Suárez said the city is not immune to the crisis thanks to a diversified economy. In his view, Miami would weather any fall in digital assets.

As previously reported, in May 2021 Suárez disclosed personal investments in Bitcoin and Ethereum after the US Senate approved a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan.

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