Son of former Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez, Francis Suarez hails from a political dynasty. But he is far from old-fashioned, and has won favour with crypto fans for placing Bitcoin at the centre of the city's strategy to lure tech firms from Silicon Valley and New York.
Suarez has suggested numerous ideas to turn Miami into Bitcoin City. These Include letting city employees get paid in BTC, allowing residents to pay taxes using crypto, and placing a portion of the city’s treasury in bitcoin.
To these ends, he has met with crypto figureheads including the Winklevi, and is thought to be working on regulations that could turn the South Florida Beach city into a regulatory sandbox where crypto can be safely experimented with.