Proposed Miami-Dade crypto task force would explore whether to accept crypto for county payments

Residents of Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida may one day be able to pay their taxes in the form of cryptocurrency.

A memorandum made public on Thursday indicates that Miami-Dade County commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins has proposed the creation of the Miami-Dade Cryptocurrency Task Force, which, among other objectives, would seek to determine the feasibility of using cryptocurrencies as payments for county taxes, fees, and services. 

As the memo states:

"The Miami-Dade Cryptocurrency Task Force is established for the purpose of (a) studying the feasibility of Miami-Dade County accepting cryptocurrency and other digital monetary forms as an acceptable method of payment for County taxes, fees, and services; (b) identifying any costs associated with accepting cryptocurrency and other digital monetary forms as an acceptable method of payment for County taxes, fees, and services; and (c) providing recommendations to the Board on other policy initiatives relating to cryptocurrencies that would be advantageous to Miami-Dade County. In conducting its review, and without limitation to the generality of the foregoing, the Task Force shall also review and analyze efforts undertaken by other local, state, or national governments with regard to cryptocurrencies."

It's a notable development considering that in the past month, Miami-Dade officials struck a multi-million dollar deal with crypto exchange FTX to sponsor the sports stadium of NBA basketball team the Miami Heat. The county's Board of Commissioners greenlit the deal late last month.

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The proposal builds on the Miami area’s growing interest in cryptocurrency tech. As noted in the memo, the city of Miami has begun studying a series of bitcoin-related initiatives, including city tax and fee payments. The proposed task force might one day mean that such initiatives could go county-wide.

Thirteen people, each with at least five years of experience in crypto, banking, cybersecurity, or finance and who have been chosen by the Board of County Commissioners, would comprise the Task Force, per the memo.

“The Task Force is advisory only and shall not have the power or authority to commit Miami-Dade County or any of its agencies or instrumentalities to any policies, incur any financial obligations, or create any liability, contractual or otherwise, on behalf of the County or any of its agencies or instrumentalities,” according to the memo.

Should the resolution succeed at the committee level, it would then move to the full Board of Commissioners for consideration on May 4, according to a board representative. The County Infrastructure, Operations, and Innovations Committee will first consider the proposal.

If approved, the Task Force would be dissolved within a year unless an extension is approved by commissioners.

About Author

MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020 — joining just before bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, covering any and all crypto news but with a penchant toward NFT, metaverse, web3 gaming, funding, crime, hack and crypto ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. You can follow MK on X @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.