Cryptocurrencies — and blockchain, the decentralized distributed-ledger technology that powers them — are more popular than ever in mayor’s offices around the country. But technology officials, in cities like Miami, Philadelphia and San Jose, California, still have unanswered questions about how the technology applies to their local governments.
Though public blockchains — which provide a mostly tamper-proof method of keeping records without the need for a trusted third party — have existed for more than a decade, Miami Chief Information Officer Mike Sarasti said he only recently began taking them seriously. Sarasti told StateScoop that until 2021, he had mentally cast aside the technology as a “generic smart-city” sales pitch, most often encountered through cold emails or events held by blockchain enthusiasts within Miami’s budding technology sector.
