Left: Miami skyline Right: NYC skyline. Miami and New York City are vying to become the crypto capital of the country.
Lynne Sladky / AP; Patrick Smith / Getty Images
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Lynne Sladky / AP; Patrick Smith / Getty Images
Left: Miami skyline Right: NYC skyline. Miami and New York City are vying to become the crypto capital of the country.
Lynne Sladky / AP; Patrick Smith / Getty Images
When Blockchain.com looking for a new home for its US headquarters, it decided to leave New York and move to downtown Miami.
“New York is a great city,” said Peter Smith, co-founder and CEO of the crypto company. “But Miami was an easy choice for us.”
Miami’s vibrant nightlife and warmer weather are certainly an attraction, but according to Smith, the final decision is down to the city being more in line with his company’s goals.
“It’s the gateway to Latin America,” he said. “It’s in the East Coast time zone. And more importantly, it’s probably the most excited city in the world for crypto right now.”
Cryptocurrencies are seen by many as the future of finance, and Miami is aggressively becoming the crypto capital of the world – a direct threat to New York’s status as the country’s financial hub. , threatened New York’s dominance in the financial sector.
Smith credits Mayor Francis Suarez for raising the bar for the city. During his first term, Suarez focused on Bitcoin and blockchain, the technology that underpins it.
Today, Miami has its own cryptocurrency, called MiamiCoin, and last year it hosted one of the largest digital currency conferences in the world.
“Cryptocurrency is incredibly important to the future of the city and to the way we position ourselves right now,” Suarez told NPR in a recent interview. “We really created the epicenter for crypto.”
Welcome to Miami
Suarez has perfected the pitch he brings to investors and executives, like Smith. First, he mentioned Miami’s beaches, cultural offerings, and professional sports teams. Then he started selling for real.
“There’s a disparity in the cost of living, it’s about two-for-one now,” Suarez said. “Living in New York is twice as expensive as in Miami.”
According to the mayor, the city has reduced its property tax “to its second lowest level since the 1960s,” and it has more room for new development than New York. Suarez also proudly pointed out that credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings recently upgraded some of its views on several Miami bond ratings.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez speaks at Bitcoin Conference 2021, a cryptocurrency conference held at the Mana Wynwood convention center in Miami on June 4. Suarez is actively promoting Miami as a top destination head for crypto companies.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
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Miami Mayor Francis Suarez speaks at Bitcoin Conference 2021, a cryptocurrency conference held at the Mana Wynwood convention center in Miami on June 4. Suarez is actively promoting Miami as a top destination head for crypto companies.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
His strategy seems to be working. Cryptocurrency firms FTX US, eToro and Bit Digital have announced expansion plans in Miami, and MoonPay and Orca Capital have set up shop there.
And Miami is attracting even more traditional financial firms. During the pandemic, Citadel Securities has moved workers to South Florida, and private equity firm Apollo Global Management is also opening a new office.
“We’ve moved about $1.2 trillion in assets under management to Miami over the last 16 months,” Suarez said.
New York: The city that never sleeps?
Miami’s success leaves New York City’s newly elected mayor, Eric Adams, concerned that the “city that never sleeps” is sleeping on crypto.
“NYC will become the hub of the crypto industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries!” Eric Adams tweeted on Election Day. “Wait for it!”
When the mayor of Miami promised to receive his next salary in bitcoin, Adams double down. Or down to three times.
“In New York, we’re always going big, so I’ll take my first THREE coins in Bitcoin when I become mayor,” he stated.
That caused a little stir and made some headlines, but a few hours later, New York City clearly couldn’t pay employees in anything but dollars. At least not now. (Adams hopes to change the city’s pay policy, but in the meantime, a spokesman for the elected mayor said Adams will convert his own paychecks into bitcoin.)
Tiffany Smith, a New York-based partner at law firm WilmerHale who represents crypto firms, said the city has cut its jobs because it has to deal with regulations. state that some in the industry consider unfavorable.
“New York already has regulations that are detrimental or deemed detrimental to the crypto industry,” Smith said. “And that caused a lot of companies to reach out beyond New York.”
It was one of the first states to introduce a licensing regime, says Smith.
State taxes were another obstacle, and there was not much Adams could do. Unlike Florida, New York has a state income tax.
New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams gestures to supporters during his election victory party at the Brooklyn Marriott hotel on Nov. 2 in New York City. Adams wants to promote New York as a crypto-friendly financial hub.
Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images
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New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams gestures to supporters during his election victory party at the Brooklyn Marriott hotel on Nov. 2 in New York City. Adams wants to promote New York as a crypto-friendly financial hub.
Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images
However, New York City also has a lot to do, Smith said. It is home to a thriving technology hub and many world-renowned universities, including New York University, Columbia and Cornell Tech. And she said that crypto companies recognize an opportunity to recruit top talent from banks and other financial firms with headquarters there.
According to Smith, New York has all the ingredients, but “the point is putting it together and marketing and really reaching out to entrepreneurs and investors.”
Bring it in
Adams is drawing on the fact that New York City is, well, New York City.
Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Patrick Stanley welcomes the rivalry between the two cities that want to be the “crypto capital”. He is part of a loose collective known as CityCoins that created MiamiCoin.
Stanley thinks the competition is a response to how attitudes have changed during the pandemic.
“People working in information-driven fields are choosing cities the way they choose products, and they are looking for leaders who are ‘at the forefront of technology’,” he said.
So far, Adams, who has declined NPR’s request for an interview, has not made any concrete suggestions. But he floated adding crypto to the curriculum at New York City Public Schools and he said that, if the city adopts crypto, it will lead to well-paying jobs. than.
Adams will become New York’s 110th mayor on January 1. In the meantime, Suarez has some advice for him.
“Hold on tight,” he said. “There’s a lot to come. And listen, there’s no shame in being number two.”
