Mayor-elect Eric Adams has vowed to reshape the Big Apple into a crypto-friendly city and explore the release of the city’s own cryptocurrency — challenging Miami’s mayor to a “friendly competition.”
He even one-upped Miami’s mayor who earlier this week said he’d take his next paycheck in bitcoin.
Adams on Thursday said he’d take his first three mayoral paychecks in bitcoin.
“NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries!” he said in a tweet. “Just wait!”
The mayor-elect said he took note of the burgeoning crypto hub taking hold in Miami — and he vowed not to let New York get left behind, saying he’d also explore a city coin like Miami has done with its MiamiCoin.
“He has a MiamiCoin that is doing very well — we’re going to look in the direction to carry that out,” Adams said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio on Wednesday, a day after cruising to victory in the city’s mayoral race.
He added that he’s going to “look at what’s preventing the growth of bitcoin and cryptocurrency in our city.”
The Democrat also emphasized the need for New York City to prepare a local workforce for jobs in the burgeoning crypto industry.
“We can’t have a one-sided city where certain groups and areas are doing well,” he told Bloomberg.
He added that in Brooklyn, where he’s served as borough president, there’s been a 356 percent increase in tech startups over the past 10 years.
Adams also emphasized that he’s been ramping up his meetings with tech startups and entrepreneurs both locally and internationally.
In a separate interview later Wednesday on Bloomberg Television, Adams pledged more generally to make New York City more business-friendly.
“We’re too bureaucratic, too expensive, and too difficult to do business,” Adams said. “Our agencies — they go into businesses and are looking for ways to penalize or fine them. We’re changing that atmosphere altogether.”
“This is the Empire State, and we’re going to build empires.”
In June, Adams promised to make New York City “the center of bitcoins” — a couple weeks after trading jabs with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez over boosting business and residency in the Big Apple.
Suarez, 44, who’s seeking re-election, has staked much of his political future on his commitment to bitcoin and his positioning of the Florida city as a capital of the rapidly growing crypto sector.
In September, Suarez expressed hope that MiamiCoin, a new crypto project that launched in August, could support the city while eliminating the need for residents to pay taxes by participating in the mining and staking of the coin.
“When you think about the possibility of being able to run a government without the citizens having to pay taxes. That’s incredible,” Suarez told the Washington Post in September.
And more recently, Suarez announced that he would accept his next paycheck entirely in bitcoin — though it’s unclear if his other salaries he gets through his side jobs as a lawyer and a private equity executive would also be affected.
In March, The Post reported that child star-turned-bitcoin billionaire Brock Pierce donated $2,000 to Adams’ campaign, along with another $2,000 to Adams’ then-rival Carlos Menchaca. Pierce also donated to a handful of other pols across the state.