Stephanie Douse 
By teaming with CityCoins to establish crypto for the city of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia is on the verge of following in the footsteps of Miami, Austin, and New York City. The partnership with CityCoins will help boost its treasury with cryptocurrency.
Mayor Jim Kenney of Philadelphia has welcomed the idea, telling the government news site Statescoop that his office is “excited about the prospect of donations from a CityCoins program to target real problems in the city.”
In a tweet on Jan. 31, Philly’s Chief Information Officer and apparent Bitcoin (BTC) advocate Mark Wheeler stated that “Philly is ready” to cooperate with CityCoins.
CityCoins is a Stacks (STX) blockchain software tool that assists local administrations in creating their own coin. Stacks transactions are settled using the Bitcoin network.
CityCoins are already being used by New York City and Miami to expand their treasury reserves. Thirty percent of STX tokens mined are transmitted to the city’s wallet, where they are sold for USD and deposited into the city’s treasury. The rest is kept by the miners.
Wheeler said in a Feb. 1 interview that the city would start formally assessing CityCoins to ensure that any prospective partnership they build together conforms with existing cryptocurrency rules.
Wheeler addressed the issue of adopting a program that uses a Proof-of-Work blockchain, such as Bitcoin, as an environmental concern. He emphasized that CityCoins does not require customers to use any additional hardware, which could cause further environmental damage. On February 1, he told Statescoop:
“I think we can simply say, ‘This isn’t Bitcoin and it’s not requiring new servers to be set up and it’s not requiring intensive energy use.’ I think that’s a valid, verifiable statement.”
Wheeler stated in November that the city of Philadelphia would attempt to incorporate blockchain technology into its government. He got the idea for the campaign from the city of Miami.
CityCoin’s projects
Last August, Miami debuted its MiamiCoin with CityCoins to help the city raise revenue, which Mayor Francis Suarez stated could be used to cover all of the city’s residents’ tax burdens.
Last November, New York City partnered with CityCoins to establish the NYCCoin. NYCCoin miners, like MiamiCoin miners, get paid in STX and BTC for supplying the city with tokens.
Austin, Texas, has also partnered with CityCoins, however mining has yet to begin.