Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Announces Acceptance of Cryptocurrencies for 2024 Presidential Campaign
On August 4, 2023, Miami Republican mayor Francis Suarez announced that he’s accepting cryptocurrencies for campaign donations. The 2024 presidential candidate revealed the decision to accept digital currencies during a Coindesk TV broadcast.
2024 Presidential Candidate Francis Suarez Embraces Crypto Donations
Francis Suarez, the current mayor of Miami, is well known for his stance toward bitcoin and crypto assets, and Suarez is looking to challenge incumbent president Joe Biden in the 2024 U.S. general election. On Friday, the mayor announced that he’s accepting crypto assets for campaign donations, joining two other candidates who have revealed they are accepting bitcoin for donations as well. Suarez broke the news on a Coindesk TV broadcast.
“Officially, my campaign is accepting bitcoin,” Suarez disclosed. “This is a process of developing technologies that are going to create democratizing opportunities for wealth creation and are not manipulated by a human being’s ulterior motives, political goals, etc.”
However, Suarez is not just accepting bitcoin. The presidential candidate’s website says “crypto” and leads to a portal that accepts crypto donations. The portal connects to a Bitpay invoice after the selected donation amount is chosen. In the Bitpay invoice portal, payments are directed to Suarez for President Inc. Payments can be made in BTC, BCH, LTC, DOGE, XRP, ETH, SHIB, USDC, DAI, MATIC, APE, BUSD, WBTC, USDP, GUSD and EUROC. Interestingly, tether (USDT) is shown on the Bitpay invoice but is “not supported.”
Suarez joins presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democrat, who announced his acceptance of BTC on May 21, 2023, and Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican, who made his announcement to accept BTC for campaign donations just hours after Kennedy during the same Bitcoin 2023 convention in Miami. The 2016 presidential race was the first to have candidates accept crypto for campaign financing.
Rand Paul, a Republican and son of Ron Paul, announced his acceptance of BTC in April 2015, becoming the first presidential candidate in American history to receive donations through cryptocurrency. Democratic presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Eric Swalwell accepted digital currencies for their 2020 runs. Suarez made a name for himself in the crypto space years ago, was paid in bitcoin and chose to invest a portion of his 401(k) retirement plan in bitcoin.
What do you think about Suarez revealing that his campaign is accepting crypto donations? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
