Eric Adams, who turned mayor of New York Metropolis in January, has reportedly stood behind a marketing campaign pledge to make the town a crypto hub, regardless of a drop within the value of many tokens in 2022.
In accordance with a Dec. 12 report from Slate, Adams suggested he nonetheless needed New York Metropolis to be the “middle of the cryptocurrency trade” — one of many plans he announced throughout his mayoral run in November 2021. The New York Metropolis mayor reportedly converted the primary of his three paychecks whereas in workplace into Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in January and February, previous to the crypto market downturn.
“Mayor Adams believes cryptocurrency, blockchain, and different rising applied sciences supply an unimaginable alternative for innovation and financial development over the long run, and he needs to see that occur proper right here in New York,” reportedly mentioned Jonah Allon, a press secretary for Adams. “As with all monetary merchandise, value fluctuations are an anticipated characteristic of the market — and it’s shortsighted to imagine that setbacks in an trade are a sign that it received’t expertise long-term development.”
Slate’s estimates instructed that Adams could have misplaced as much as 60% of his crypto funding — assuming he hodled these funds — primarily based on the value of BTC and ETH. On the time of publication, BTC was $16,998, having dropped greater than 66% within the earlier 12 months, whereas ETH was $1,249, having fallen roughly 70% over the identical interval.
Throughout Adams’ time in workplace, the New York state authorities handed a legislation that can implement a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work mining utilizing non-renewable vitality sources. The NewYorkCityCoin (NYCCoin) venture, which launched in November 2021 with the then mayor-elect’s help, has additionally fallen greater than 93% within the final 12 months, reaching a value of roughly $0.0003 on the time of publication.
Associated: Crypto Metropolis: Information to New York
The collapse of crypto trade FTX has additionally seemingly spurred state regulators and lawmakers to motion, with New York Legal professional Common Letitia James recommending that crypto investments be prohibited from sure retirement funds. New York Consultant Ritchie Torres additionally penned a letter on Dec. 6 requesting the U.S. Authorities Accountability Workplace look into the efficiency of the Securities and Change Fee concerning FTX.
