Miami’s Rise to Tech Epicenter – NBC 6 South Florida

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Jeff Sekinger told NBC 6 that he moved his businesses to Miami from San Diego about ten months ago.

We just hired about 50 people in the last ten days, Sekinger said. We have hired a lot here.

Sekinger, 27, is the founder and CEO of cryptocurrency investment firm Orca Capital and a 0 percent financial advisory firm.

He says Miami’s pro-crypto policies, coupled with fewer regulations in the state, have created a promising environment for tech companies to flourish.

The No. 1 city in the United States is Miami for crypto, Sekinger said. Because of things the mayor does, like Miami Coin.

Miamis commissioners on Monday gave Mayor Francis Suarez his first green light for the “Miami Coin” plan. They agreed to accept crypto donations made to the city through the “City Coins” crypto mining platform.

Every time someone hits a Miami Coin, the software triggers a 30% donation to the city itself.

City leaders will meet in about six months to decide how the money should be allocated, but expressed initial interest in affordable housing projects at Monday’s meeting.

Meanwhile, City Coins co-creator Patrick Stanley said Miami Coin software has already generated more than $ 5 million in donations for the city in just over 40 days.

City Coins gives people a way to support their favorite cities, and each City Coin is its own cryptocurrency or token, Stanley said.

Stanley says donations generated by Miami Coins software could offset around 5-10% of the city’s annual budget.

What we expect to see is use it to build affordable housing, house the homeless, climate change initiatives, crypto-education, Stanley said. As a member of the community, I am extremely proud to have been able to support a city that we hold in high regard.

Sekinger plans to personally invest in Miami Coin and also hopes to add it to Orca Capital’s investment portfolio.

Over the next two days, Miami will host the world’s largest cryptocurrency conference! Tens of thousands are heading to Wynwood for Bitcoin 2021. NBC’s Jamie Guirola reports 6

Orca Capital will unveil its brand new global headquarters in Brickell on Friday, where the company plans to hire up to 100 employees in the near future.

We are hiring a lot of people on the cryptocurrency fund level and on the education side, Sekinger said. So cryptocurrency enthusiasts, they’re probably going to be moving here already anyway.

Suarez, Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar and State Senator Anitere Flores are among the guests registered for Friday’s ribbon cutting.

One of the most important determinants of the cryptocurrency boom has been widespread adoption, Suarez told NBC 6 in a statement. I’ve used this quote before, but a rising tide lifts all boats, and I think that’s what the arrival of Orca Capitals in Miami signals to the rest of the crypto industry. They aren’t the first crypto firm to anchor in Miami, and they sure won’t be the last.

Cryptocurrency isn’t the only corner of the tech world exploring new realities in Miami.

3D scanners creating someone’s virtual avatar, or face tracking technology, are just the tip of the tech iceberg in the XR Labs studio in downtown Miami.

XR Labs co-founder Paul Bronstein said he’s working on a plan to make Miami’s land and real estate scene virtual.

Our goal by 2025 is for all of Miami to be virtually digitized and mapped, Bronstein said. In what we call a digital twin. This means that when you walk around this virtual Miami, you have the same streets.

Their plan is to virtually digitize Miami and create a virtual real estate world, on top of the real world.

Miami’s virtual landscape would be divided into plots that you can own, sell, and customize.

You’ve probably heard of blockchain in the context of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. But did you know that collectors are now spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on something called crypto art that also lives on a blockchain? NBCLX storyteller Eric Rodriguez delves deep into the world of NFTs, blockchain, and crypto art.

Each package is a “non-fungible token” or NFT. In this context, Bronstein says that NFTs are essentially a unique collector’s item that you own in the virtual world.

What you do with it is up to you.

XR Labs has also created an immersive Miami-specific metaverse called XR Miami. It is an animated 3D space, where you live and interact as an avatar.

It’s a place of entertainment or business, says XR Labs co-founder Luis Naranjo.

You can have your own website. Like, you and I are talking, and whatever I’m selling, or whatever my product is, I can have the customer in front of me and show them all around my store, Naranjo said.

Miami tech leaders say they hope to make tech education and careers more readily available to Miami’s diverse communities.

They anticipate that these technologies will become more and more integrated into everyone and into the real world over time.

One of the biggest crypto trends attracting new retail investors is NFT, ”Sekinger said.

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