Mayor of Miami Francis Suarez believes Bitcoin should be mined predominantly in the United States, specifically in his city.
In a new Unchained Podcast interview with Laura Shin, Suarez argues that turning the second most populous city in Florida into a Bitcoin mining hub would serve the national security interests of the US.
“A part of the problem with Bitcoin mining is 90% of it is not done in the United States. 90% of it is done in countries that have dirty energy. So that’s the reason why it’s considered to be a dirty activity. We would love to be a mining hub for A), national security reasons. We don’t think 90% of mining should be outside of the U.S.”
The Miami mayor adds that his city has an inexhaustible supply of clean energy that can power Bitcoin mining pools for a long time.
“And B) we get nuclear power, so we have clean energy. A clean energy supply that’s essentially unlimited. And so we have the ability to supply mining centers and data centers in perpetuity with clean energy. So it actually would be to the benefit of the crypto community if we did more mining in the US because we by and large produce clean energy. So it would change that narrative and that dynamic.”
Suarez reveals that besides allowing local government transactions in Miami to be done using Bitcoin, the city is also considering investing in the flagship crypto asset.
“As a city, we implemented a resolution that would allow our employees to get paid in Bitcoin, that would allow our residents to pay for fees in Bitcoin and that would allow the city or at least explore the possibility of the city investing in Bitcoin.”
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