They arrived during the pandemic, fleeing California taxes and New York winters for Florida's zero state income tax and year-round pool weather. They brought with them fortunes made in cryptocurrency—and ambitions to remake Miami in their image.
Mayor Francis Suarez welcomed them with open arms and a Twitter presence, declaring Miami open for crypto business. The city launched its own cryptocurrency. Bitcoin conferences filled downtown hotels. For a moment, it seemed Miami might become the Silicon Valley of blockchain.
The reality proved more complicated. Crypto winter arrived. FTX collapsed spectacularly, taking billions and reputations with it. Some believers retreated; others doubled down.
What remains is a permanent crypto presence woven into Miami's fabric. Blockchain startups occupy Brickell office space. NFT galleries dot Wynwood. The true believers still gather at Art Basel to debate decentralized futures over Art Deco backdrops.
Whether they're visionaries or speculators depends on whom you ask—and when you ask them.
