A tiny Missouri town known as Cool Valley could become the first in the country to put cryptocurrency in the hands of every resident.
Jason Stewart, the mayor of Cool Valley, Missouri, said he is exploring giving up to $1000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to each resident, a modest population of 1,500 (equivalent to roughly 1.5 million USD at the time of writing).
Stewart also hinted that if his proposal should come to fruition, it would likely come with several strings attached regarding custody, most notably with the funds being made available to residents according to a five-year vesting schedule.
The Cool Valley Bitcoin Initiative
“I feel that fundamentally, this is the best way to meet (everyone’s) basic needs — to get Bitcoin into the hands of people who can use it the most.”
– Jason Stewart, Mayor of Cool Valley.
In addition to his duties as the mayor of Cool Valley, Jason Stewart calls himself an entrepreneur and environmentalist. Thus, it is unsurprising that he strongly believes in the future of BTC – in fact, Stewart thinks holding the digital currency could be transformational for his residents.
Stewart said most of the money to fund the plan is from several unnamed donors and investors. However, the mayor of Cool Valley is not ruling out using city funds just yet.
The Five-Year Savings Schedule
“We are 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 are working on ideas like that because that is my number one concern.”
– Jason Stewart, Mayor of Cool Valley.
Alongside the announcement of his BTC proposal, mayor Jason Stewart stated that it would likely come with strings attached. Foremost, he does not want residents to turn around and sell their BTC without waiting a few years.
For instance, Stewart hinted that the initiative could require Cool Valley residents to hold their free crypto for up to five years. However, details about how the residents of Cool Valley will receive their BTC are still unclear.
The Distribution Plan
“I believe that Cool Valley is going to get wealthier and wealthier, not just our city, but the actual people who live here.”
– Jason Stewart, Mayor of Cool Valley.
At the time of writing, no official distribution plan has been announced to the public, although Cool Valley mayor Jason Stewart hopes to kick things off by the end of this year.
According to Stewart, however, the distribution plan will likely involve door-to-door visits with the offer of free cryptocurrency education classes to residents so they can safely store and access their BTC.
Stewart has also stated that the city is taking proactive measures to offset any environmental impact mining the cryptocurrency could potentially have once the distribution phase is complete.
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