NYC Coin

On November 8, 2021, CityCoins, a project launched on the Stacks blockchain (STX) allowing investors to support cities with a crypto revenue stream, announced that New York City will be next in line to have its own cryptocurrency, following its launch of MiamiCoin in August 2021. The announcement comes in the wake of New York City Mayor-Elect Eric Adams' comments heralding adoption of cryptocurrencies¹ in the City. Adams also announced that he will be taking his first three paychecks in bitcoin,² in a reply to Mayor of Miami Francis Suarez's tweet about taking his next paycheck in bitcoin.³

CityCoins' goal is to provide cities with an ongoing crypto revenue stream while promoting community involvement, support, and creative projects using the given city's coin. CityCoins is an open-source protocol built with a smart contract on STX. Each city has its own unique minted token, with 30% of mining rewards sent to the City's reserved wallet which can be claimed by the City's financial controller; the remaining 70% of mining rewards are distributed to individuals stacking their CityCoins.

It's important to note that New York City has not partnered with CityCoins. However, Adams did respond to CityCoins' NYC Coin announcement⁴ welcoming the new project. Miami voted to accept MiamiCoin funds 30 days after the initial launch of MiamiCoin, which had already generated about $4.3 million in STX for the City. Miami's wallet⁵ currently holds 9.5 million STX which is currently valued around $21 million.

CityCoin represents a step change in local government funding, allowing citizens to support their city by stacking or mining the coin in hopes that the crypto revenue will be used for community initiatives and projects. Suarez has already discussed the possibility of ending taxes in the City.⁶ Local business could offer discounts or benefits to customers who stack their CityCoins.

This trend is expected to continue with AustinCoin and San FranciscoCoin appearing to be coming soon. Internationally, Seoul, South Korea has announced its plan⁷ to launch its own cryptocurrency to fund social benefit programs.

¹https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-03/mayor-elect-eric-adams-to-explore-nyc-coin-similar-to-miami-s?utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business
²https://twitter.com/ericadamsfornyc/status/1456311827550384129?s=20
³https://twitter.com/FrancisSuarez/status/1455562833006059528?s=20
⁴https://twitter.com/ericadamsfornyc/status/1457803063666745346?s=20
⁵https://miamining.com/mia.html
⁶https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/30/crypto-miamicoin/
⁷https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2018/04/02/south-koreas-capital-is-planning-to-launch-its-own-cryptocurrency/