This Missouri Mayor Plans to Give $1,000 of Bitcoin to Every Inhabitant

The Mayor of Cool Valley, a city in Missouri, is planning to distribute bitcoin worth up to $1,000 to the inhabitants. However, there is a condition attached to such a plan.

Five-Year HODL Condition

According to a report by local news outlet KSDK on Thursday (August 19, 2021), Jayson Stewart has revealed intentions to give each of Cool Valley’s 1500 residents either $500 or $1000 worth of BTC.

Stewart, who also calls the crypto “digital gold,” believes that the cryptocurrency could transform the lives of the city’s inhabitants and make them wealthy.

The Cool Valley mayor further buttressed his reason for the idea, stating that there are people who have become multi-millionaires within a few years by holding bitcoin.

“I have friends whose lives have been completely changed, like going from working a regular nine to five job to being worth over 80 million dollars in a matter of a few years.”

Bitcoin to $500,000?

However, Stewart’s bitcoin plan comes with a catch: The recipients would not be able to sell the BTC for five years, which the mayor says, would prevent the residents from having regrets when the price of bitcoin possibly becomes “half a million dollars.”

According to Cool Valley leader:

“We’re putting in place like a vesting schedule for Bitcoin. The idea is that maybe you don’t touch it for five years before you really get full access to it. We’re working on ideas like that because that’s my number one concern.”

Stewart added:

“Someone just sells their bitcoin to pay their car note. And then when Bitcoin is sitting at like $500,000 all these years later, they’re going to really regret that.”

The mayor hopes to launch the plan by the end of 2021, with a bulk of the funds coming from several anonymous bitcoin investors. Stewart is also looking to poll resources from government funds or relief money from the Covid relief.

Another possible source is city funds, with Stewart saying, “It’s possible. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll see how it goes.”

Meanwhile, some residents have welcomed the mayor’s idea. Ramona Nickels, an inhabitant of the city, said that his daughter thinks BTC is “the next big thing.” Cornelius Webb, another Cool Valley resident, seemed enthusiastic about the plan.

More US Mayors Push for Bitcoin Adoption

The Missouri mayor joins the list of mayors in the United States who have adopted bitcoin. As reported by CryptoPotato in July, Scott Conger, mayor of Jackson, Tennessee, announced that the City was considering accepting bitcoin as payment for taxes.

New York City’s Mayoral candidate Eric Adams pledged to make NYC the “center of bitcoins.”

Miami’s mayor Francis Suarez, meanwhile, is leading the bitcoin adoption train. Back in February, the City Commission of Miami voted in favor of Suarez’s proposal to make salary payments in bitcoin optional for workers.

The Miami mayor, who also holds BTC and ETH, is working towards reducing electricity tariffs to attract bitcoin miners to the city. Earlier in August, Miami unveiled its crypto called “MiamiCoin”.