Bitcoin and crypto advocates might just have found their champion in the US 2024 presidential race this week. The current mayor of Miami has put his hat in the ring. But with low name recognition and a crowded field, will his ideas ever catch on?
One of America’s most pro-crypto politicians has entered the presidential race. Francis Suarez, the mayor of Florida’s tech and finance hub, Miami, is vying to become the Republican nominee for President of the United States. Suarez has been mayor of the Magic City, as it is sometimes known, since 2017.
The Bitcoin Mayor
In the United States, Suarez has been one of the government executives most supportive of Bitcoin. He has previously committed to making Miami a Bitcoin hub.
In November 2021, Suarez requested to have his next salary payment in Bitcoin. He also wants to give state workers the option to receive their own pay in the cryptocurrency.
During a Bloomberg interview in 2021, Suarez said he hoped Miami could be the “crypto capital of the United States or the world.” Furthermore, on his official government website, of the four areas he claims to champion, one is “Web 3.0 technology.” A rare public endorsement of the sector.
As if there were any remaining doubts, Suarez has also declared that the next President of the United States should be “pro-Bitcoin.”
Suarez’s MiamiCoin Has Plunged Since Launch
However, the ambitious mayor’s pro-crypto record is not without its failures. In August 2021, Suarez launched MiamiCoin, one of the city-based cryptos designed to help boost local economies. In Miami’s case, he wanted the city’s token to clear a path to eventually abolish taxes.
The venture sounded promising. But within months, it had lost almost all of its value. According to the Miami Herald, the mayor also lost $2,500 of his own money, in the bargain. Unsurprisingly, Suarez talks a lot less about the project today.
Take a look at our most recent tax guide for the United States: The Ultimate US Crypto Tax Guide for 2023
The Miami mayor is already up against a crowd of other candidates, over six months before the first ballots are cast. The GOP field is not getting any smaller, and it is early days yet.
Suarez will be facing off against former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, and the hugely popular governor of his own state, Ron DeSantis. That makes Suarez the third Florida-based candidate in the race, alongside President Trump. Politically, he is among the most unconventional, least hardline, and least culturally conservative in the race.
Furthermore, Suarez has said he did not vote for then-incumbent Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. A fact that will not help him in a largely pro-Trump Republican base in Florida.
While it is not unheard of for mayors of cities to run for president, it is relatively uncommon. Most top-tier candidates for the leader of the free world are senators, governors, or former cabinet members.
In the previous cycle, Bill de Blasio, then mayor of New York, and Pete Buttigieg, then mayor of South Bend, Indiana, ran for the Democratic nomination. Before that, Rudy Giuliani, a former mayor of New York City, ran for president in the 2008 Republican primaries.
BeInCrypto has reached out to Mayor Suarez’s office for comment.
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