Miami Isn’t the Only Florida City Seeing Cryptocurrency Growth

<p>While the city has become known for its cryptocurrency advancements, other Florida counties, including Broward and Palm Beach, are exploring cryptocurrency opportunities.</p> <p>For South Florida cryptocurrency enthusiasts, 2021 was an exciting year, as Miami established itself as a potential national capital for the industry.</p> <p>The city hosted what was billed as the world's largest crypto conference, launched its own coin, appropriately named after the city, and welcomed an array of companies that relocated their headquarters or established outlier offices in Miami's Brickell Avenue financial district.</p> <p>"There are really only two options for cities," Mayor Francis X. Suarez stated at a Bloomberg-sponsored event in Miami recently. "They can act as if it does not exist... or they can confront those realities and embrace the disruption and change."</p> <p>It remains to be seen whether other South Florida cities and counties will follow Miami's lead in the coming year.</p> <p>Despite or perhaps because of wild swings in the price of Bitcoin, the ground-breaking digital asset, the region's consumers have been clamouring for a piece of the action for several years.</p> <p>According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 16% of the US population currently owns or previously owned cryptocurrencies. Six years ago, it was 1%. Crypto-investors have developed a preference for the asset due to its independence from banks and government regulators. Typically, coins are stored in virtual wallets, which include online services that mimic bank accounts.</p> <p>In Broward and Palm Beach counties, an increasing number of local businesses, ranging from real estate and yacht brokerage firms to hair salons and charter jet companies, have begun accepting Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, and Bitcoin ATMs have sprouted up throughout the tri-county region.</p> <p>However, local charities have expressed interest, Broward investment firms are bolstering their crypto credentials, and local governments are brains