Mayor Jayson Stewart wants to give every resident $1,000 in bitcoin. Jayson Stewart is the mayor of Cool Valley, Missouri. A town that only has a population of 1,500. The mayor is raising money to give each of its 1,500 residents $1,000 in bitcoin. But there is a catch. The BTC the residents receive from the mayor cannot be sold. Residents are required to hold on to the coins that they receive.
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Stewart believes that the coins could be transformational to the lives of every resident in Cool Valley. As long as the coins are held onto for a couple of years. The way the distribution would work looks something akin to a trust fund. The coins will be given to each resident. But will be locked so that they will not be able to access the coins for the next five years. After which residents will be able to access the BTC and get them at whatever they are worth at that point.
“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. Someone just sells their bitcoin today their car note. And then when Bitcoin is sitting at like $500,000 all these years later, they’re going to really regret that.”
Bitcoin Is Digital Gold
Mayor Jayson Stewart does not want to see his constituents miss out on the opportunity Bitcoin presents. He referred to the cryptocurrency as digital gold. And he wants every resident of Cool Valley to get some bitcoin, no matter the amount. “It’s digital gold. I would like to see every single household in my city receive some level of Bitcoin,” Stewart said. “Whether it be $500 or $1,000.”
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Bitcoin’s accelerated growth rate is one of the major reasons investors are clamoring to own the digital asset. The asset has grown an enormous 450,000% since it was first launched in 2009. And the growth trajectory has not really slowed down. With current forecasts, the coins Mayor Stewart gives Cool Valley residents now could be worth tens of thousands in a couple of years.
This is why Stewart has proposed the caveat that the coins cannot be sold. Stewart believes that the asset is set to explode in the coming years. And if so, then the entirety of the town will be better off for the ~$150,000 investment it is about to put into its community.
Not A Bad Idea
The reactions from residents have been favorable to Stewart’s proposition. Money for the funding will come from several unnamed Bitcoin investors, according to Stewart. Some residents expressed enthusiasm for the idea of owning bitcoins. While others do not mind getting some money in their pockets, like in the case of Cornelius Webb, a Cool Valley resident. “Putting money in my pocket. Sounds pretty good to me,” said Webb.
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Apparently, Stewart has already secured donors who have pledged to match money raised in support of this plan. “I have some very supportive donors who have agreed to match any money that I raise up to several millions of dollars,” Mayor Stewart said. In addition to private funding, Stewart is also planning on getting funding from the government too. If that doesn’t work, Stewart hopes he can get some funds from the COVID relief. The mayor also thinks they could use city funds to fund some part of the plan.
BTC was worth less than $300 five years ago | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
Mayor Stewart’s plan has a lot of merits today. Using the mayor’s timeline of five years, $1,000 put into bitcoin five years ago would be worth over $150,000 at today’s price. And there’s no telling how much the value of bitcoin will appreciate five years from now.
Featured image from Bitcoin Romania, chart from TradingView.com