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Bitcoin United States

Miami Is Considering Paying Its City Employees In Bitcoin (forbes.com) 102

Posted by BeauHD from the tech-oasis dept.
The city of Miami is considering giving its employees the opportunity to get their salaries paid in bitcoin. It's all part of a plan to bring more tech entrepreneurs to Miami.

In addition to the bitcoin salaries, the city is also considering allowing local fees and taxes to be paid in bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency. The city's treasury may also place some of its investment capital into bitcoin, which would be a first for major cities in the U.S. Forbes reports: While in exact percentage or absolute terms, [Miami's mayor, Mayor Francis Suarez] hasn't got an exact figure for how much investment he wants to place -- yet he knows he wants to structure it in a public-private partnership where private partners can take some of the reward for defraying risk from the public side. An hypothetical example with arbitrary numbers: the city would invest about $250,000 in public funds into a fund that would be supplemented with $750,000 in private bitcoin from three large investors. The private investors would get the first funds out to guarantee their return, while the city would benefit from anything left.

He's also keeping an eye out on the bitcoin ecosystem and events, having spoken at a bitcoin event a couple of years ago, and looking to bring the Bitcoin 2021 Conference to Miami. Finally, the mayor is considering financing his reelection campaign in bitcoin, joining a small selection of politicians who have raised funds in bitcoin. Combined with his social media presence, the efforts could bear fruit that helps solidify his tech-friendly persona, as well as the treasury for his next re-election.
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Miami Is Considering Paying Its City Employees In Bitcoin More

Miami Is Considering Paying Its City Employees In Bitcoin

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  • Translation (Score:5, Insightful)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @07:13PM (#61021424)

    In my opinion this translates to Suarez own a lot of bitcoin and wants to see its value rise. Mind you I agree with transitioning over to cryptocurrency (though Ethereum or Stellar Lumens seem like the better choice).

    • Next rung of the ladder down to crazytown is, pay all employees in Gamestop shares..

    • Re:Translation (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @07:28PM (#61021494)

      If you want to make your city a tech center, the best way to do it is to fund a large world-class research university with a generous admission policy for international students.

    • That, or thinks city employees are tech entreprene (Score:4, Insightful)

      by raymorris ( 2726007 ) on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @10:37PM (#61021612) Journal

      TFS says it's "a plan to bring more tech entrepreneurs to Miami."
      If you come to Miami and get a city government job, you can be paid in Bitcoin. To attract tech entrepreneurs.

      Either these local politicos think that tech entrepreneurs are going to be be working for the city as meter maids, or they aren't being upfront about their actual intentions.

      It's possible they are being totally honest, that they think that'll actually work. In which case they are just as incompetent as most Republicans believe politicians are.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        Dude, cryptocurrency is cool. Tech bros like cool stuff. It's got to work.

        Actually, it might. Tech bros are kind of stupid. I suspect Miami may get more than it wished for.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kisai ( 213879 )

      Florida, is already crazytown central.

  • "Tech entrepreneurs" means bot herders, right?

  • Anyone who actually knows about tech stays far away from Bitcoin.
    • exactly I cant believe a city would even consider something like this... nomatter what cryptocurrency we are talking about

  • May as well offer to pay in lottery tickets (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rick Schumann ( 4662797 ) on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @07:18PM (#61021454) Journal
    'Cryptocurrency' should never be confused for actual money. Ever.
    Here's a wake-up call for y'all: if there was no such thing anymore as 'cash', then nothing you buy, right down to a candybar, is ever your private business. Same goes for 'cryptocurrency'. All digital forms of payment will inevitably be tracked by governments. Is that what you want? Not me.

    • All digital forms of payment will inevitably be tracked by governments. Is that what you want? Not me.

      Credit Card. Definitely avoid. Checks? Traceable. Cash? Serial Numbers.

      • Cash? Serial numbers

        Here's my response to that, just for you: https://youtu.be/uqUa_G1h3pw [youtu.be]

        • There's a reason why the kidnappers always want the ransom in non-sequential bills, you know.
          And if you have trouble believing that, how about what your printer [wikipedia.org] can tell people about you?
          • Take your meds. If the FBI, CIA, NSA, NID, and whoever else, had the manpower to mass-surveil American citizens who are not Persons of Interest in any investigation, they still wouldn't bother, and if they did, we'd know well in advance because we'd be living in the 21st century version of Stalinist Russia and we'd goddamned well know it. So I don't know if you're Just Another Garden Variety Troll (in which case GO BACK TO 4CHAN) or if you're Just Another Internet Schizo (same difference), but I do know thi

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

              Absolutely. It's not like the NSA was collecting every phone call and all Internet data or anything. That's unpossible!

            • Dude. Your argument "All digital forms of payment will inevitably be tracked by governments. Is that what you want?"

              The other guy replies with clear examples how non-digital payments are already tracked.

              And now you go about meds. Is your argument that the digital payment will be tracked better? Or that it isn't tracked? Or is tracking it somehow more impactful than tracking of non-digital payments? Or maybe the other guy actually does need to take meds, but so do you?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Malc ( 1751 )

            They want them in non-sequential numbers because they're going to have to dispose of them in large chunks. Anti-fraud/anti-laundering regulations require checks on such large transactions. Day-to-day usage is not and cannot be so easily tracked. Don't be so paranoid.

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

            There's a reason why the kidnappers always want the ransom in non-sequential bills, you know.

            You know why we know the money that was given to Dan Cooper (usually mistaken as DB Cooper) was never found except for a small amount? Even back then there were banks that kept ransom stock.

            Non-sequential bills that were all logged in serial numbers. This can be arranged in minutes - there is a lot of reserve currency around sitting in banks for this purpose. They just gather it together , and note the serial number

      • Bitcoin Lightning network can be anonymous for the payee and as with native Bitcoin payments, there's no information required of the buyer to accept their money.

        • Has that been peered reviewed. the block chain of bitcoin is specifically designed not to be anonymous, so it's all accountable and traceable if spent on just about all transaction systems. Black market system work because the supplier converts the BC to cash at some point breaking the audit chain or moving the BC outside of the USA to a cash exchange point. but to be anonymous in the USA should be impossible on all legit transactions using BC

          • Yes, it's a protocol that creates a network of payment channels where instant settlement is possible. There are multiple inter-operable open source implementations and can be used now to buy gift cards and other things.
            When you open a channel, that transaction hits the blockchain, but after that channel open has been confirmed, then channel functions as an entrypoint into the network and from there payments can be routed as long as a link with sufficient capacity exists. It's still in the build-up period

            • Build-up period? How long is that going to last? LN has been around for years. It is an . . . inelegant solution.

              • >> inelegant solution.
                Still a solution to a problem.
                Yes I can use a can to hammer in a nail, inelegant, yet it works.

                I am going to guess that the reason a better solution has not been present is because the profit potential is not there yet

        • LN no more anonymizes transactions than the base Bitcoin blockchain anonymizes transactions.

    • You are wrong on every level. Do you think your local bank has enough cash on hand to cover everyone’s account balances? All data the same as bitcoin. Guess you’ve also never heard of privacy coins like Monero. In reality nobody gives a shit what you buy.

      • ..no, if so-called 'cryptocurrency' became a standard form of currency, IT WOULD BE TRACKED EVERYWHERE. Count on it.
        Oh and by the way IDGAF how much actual cash there is -- so long as there's enough for *me*. Because I'm not some dumb cuck who uses plastic like a moron, has my bank account exposed every time I do, and has every goddamned thing I buy tracked and logged by someone, somewhere. You're free to keep living that way if you want to, but I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and have LESS exposure an

        • Who do you think is looking over your bank statements to see where your money is spent? Nobody cares.

          • Well, advertisers care, enough that money changes hands for that type of data.

            Does that mean the information enables them to beam mind-rays into your brain and control you like a robot, no.

    • This is over-rated. Rick might think he knows, but really has no idea what he's talking about.

    • All digital forms of payment will inevitably be tracked by governments.

      This is false. There are ways to make payments anonymous. Cryptographically safe ways. And (at least bitcoin) development is heading that way.

  • This is just to get in the news (Score:3)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @07:26PM (#61021486)
    nobody worth hiring would take their salary in bitcoin. But we're all now talking about Miami as a place to work tech jobs.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Xenna ( 37238 )

      That's probably true. However, most of these kinds of deals involve taking a percentage of one's salary in crypto. That's not a bad idea. I might go for depositing a few hundred per month in a crypto 'savings account' as a convenient method to save (dollar cost average). If I'd been doing that the last few years for anything longer than a few months I'd definitely would've made a profit.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Xenna ( 37238 )

        There's a friendly dcabtc.com site that calculates it for you with the benefit of hindsight, sample result:

        Wow! Buying $400 of Bitcoin every month for 3 years starting 3 years ago would have turned $14,400 into $61,535 (+327%).

        Not too bad... (now make it 6 years)

  • Im sorry (Score:3)

    by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @07:34PM (#61021516)

    I feel sorry for any government employee that gets paid in Bitcoin. You did the work for the government and you deserve to be paid in a way the government will stand behind. You do not want HR to shrug when your paycheck is suddenly worth half as much as last time and you can't pay your rent/mortgage now.

    Why does the Mayor of Miami hate our national currency so much? Why replace our currency with something that wastes huge amounts of resources? Is the Mayor going to cover employees fees to convert Bitcoin into dollars so they can actually pay their bills?

    He must think 'tech entrepreneurs' are stupid.

    • It's almost as bad as getting a big chunk of your remuneration in the form of an under-funded state government pension plan. "Buy now, pay later for your kids' education! By the time its time to pay out on these teachers' pensions, you'll have moved away to Texas! Score!!!"

      • More like getting paid in beanie babies or baseball cards. The stale gum is yours to keep.

        • Fiat currencies are the beanie babies, and Gold is obsolete and defeated: Executive Order 6102...

          As Voltaire famously said, 'Fiat currency always eventually returns to its intrinsic value -- zero.'

    • I feel sorry for any government employee that gets paid in Bitcoin. You did the work for the government and you deserve to be paid in a way the government will stand behind. You do not want HR to shrug when your paycheck is suddenly worth half as much as last time and you can't pay your rent/mortgage now.

      Well, look on the bright side. You'll be able to join hedge fund brokers in the half-as-much carpool. And let's stop pretending the USD isn't artificially inflated and kept that way with massive printing presses running at QE speed. The US stock market isn't exactly some golden standard of sensible financial reality either, particularly right now. Don't even get me started on the corrupt banking system that brought the country to it's financial knees last time. Greed N. Corruption still runs that show,

  • Good idea (Score:3)

    by Berkyjay ( 1225604 ) on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @10:02PM (#61021544)

    Bankrupt the city before the ocean comes to drown everyone.

  • So perhaps someone has found a new use for bitcoin, hiding government corruption. I don't see any advantage to an employee in getting paid in bitcoin. Essentially their paycheck goes into a slow bank account with expensive transaction costs and high risk. And zero customer service.
  • If there was ever any evidence that the government should as limited as possible then this is it.
  • Do you want to get your paycheck in something as unstable and volatile as bitcoin? Do you want to speculate with your own salary?
  • I'm a fan of the government system we have (it was founded with the assumption of the Common Good driving free citizens). I am also optimistic about the distributed and private phase of technology replacing current analog, non-transparent systems. There is still a big gap between the two. Governments print official money. Bitcoin represents a new store of value. Taxes are the intersection. Look at the countries that have become dollar pegged over the last few decades. They have given up their monetary poli
  • I recall years ago some random guy getting arrested and sent to jail in Florida simply for buying bitcoin back in the day. Ever since then, I've had a pretty negative image of the state. Miami is smart to try to make amends, imo. They should find that dude and give him a chunk of their bitcoin fund as atonement for needlessly ruining his life over nothing.

  • Yeah, I'd be willing to pay anyone in junk too. I can pay in seashells, if anyone is foolish enough to agree.

    It's the willingness to ACCEPT them as payment for taxes, fees, and fines that is important.

    That signifies you consider them to be of lasting value, rather than junk you want to get rid of.

    • I'm also fairly confident that the city of Miami has enough employees that if they used Bitcoin for the whole payroll the Bitcoin network would fail to complete transactions.

      It doesn't scale worth shit.

  • At first I thought it was a news from the Onion or April Fool, since for what reasons someone in their right mind would want to pay his employees in Bitcoin. Then I read this:

    Finally, the mayor is considering financing his reelection campaign in bitcoin

    Make much more sense now trying to generalize the use of Bitcoin..

  • I'd rather be paid in gold coins. When the balloon goes up, I'll be covered. Or just transfer the funds in normal money.
  • 2 years ago if you got paid a $100K salary in bitcoin, it'd be like you got paid a $1 million salary. Today if you get paid $100K in bitcoin, next year it might be like they only paid you $10K.
  • ...says he wants to buy unstable digital commodity with public employees' salaries & give them that instead." -- TIFTFY
  • Why would I want my paycheck tied to a "currency" with wild swings? How about paying me in scratch-offs?
  • The Constitution reserves authority over what can be legal tender to Congress. Seems to me that for any inferior government to accept as legal tender anything other than what Congress has designated as such would be a violation of the Constitution.

    Even if there's a way around the fact that cities are prohibited from coining their own money, I hardly think they should be compensating employees with volatile commodities or securities instead of legal tender. You'd hardly get away with paying public emplo

    • I don't think bartering is unconstitutional. Since Bitcoin is something that already exists, this is akin to they city paying in gold or chickens or something. If the city came up with its own cyrptocurrency to pay its employees, that might raise the Constitutional issues you bring up.
      • Barter isn't unconstitutional, no. For a State (or by implication other inferior governments) to accept barter is (I think that's Article 1 section 10). While that doesn't necessarily mean they can't pay their own debts via barter, it sure does imply it.

        But think about this - you absolutely cannot pay your local, State or Federal taxes in anything other than US dollars. If a city tries to pay you in bitcoin, how are they going to calculate the withholding? FICA? Medicare? They can't. Hell, since y

        • I stand corrected. The first part of Article 1, section 10 of the Constitution [congress.gov] says, "No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts..." (emphasis mine). That definitely rules out payment in chickens or Bitcoin.
          • That said, as a work-around, I wonder if it'd be legal for the city to pay in dollars, but offer a service of using your salary to buy Bitcoin and then transfer it to you.

            Even if ithat is legal, it adds another layer of complexity to paying city employees, and worse, another opportunity for graft. (Other posters have suggested the opportunity for graft is the whole point of paying in Bitcoin.)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gwills ( 3593013 )
      you are demonstrating your lack of knowledge about monetary policy and constitutional law. Funny, why would you post and assert things you already admit you dont understand? The lack of curiosity and hubris on this website is jaw-dropping
      • I welcome correction. You call me ignorant, hubristic and lacking understanding, but you don't say how I'm wrong.

        I also may be wrong for feeding trolls.

      • Welcome. Hope you enjoy your first day here!

      • In what specific ways? Given that you failed to identify any error, I can only assume that it is because you cannot. The only logical conclusion then is that you're just a troll looking to annoy others in order to make yourself feel good. I'm not interested in playing that game today.
  • Hey man, here is your pay check for your hard work in Bitcoin.... aannddd it's gone! WTF are these people thinking?

  • and pay the employees when it goes up. If it goes down the next day, tough luck, employees.

  • It can't be forced. The greenback is the only legal tender and if people insist on that payment, the city is out of luck. Somebody said to me: "Forcing somebody to use a crypto currency mandates a military response".
  • Because getting paid in bitcoin means you are basically routing your income through a casino anyway.
  • Bureaucrats often are careless with taxpayer dollars, wasting them on needless ideas to help themselves get elected. Considering how much bitcoin fluctuates in a single day, this borders on speculation. Of course he will expect a bailout from Nancy Pelosi, but the voters should consider recalling the mayor over this issue as soon as the city treasury has to pay for his "gambling losses." Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

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