Eric Adams stated his administration will make the city a “centre of Bitcoins” at a watch party for in-person vote results on Tuesday.
Eric Adams, the probable front-runner in the Democratic mayoral race in New York City, stated on Tuesday that he wants to make the city a “center of Bitcoins.”
“I’m going to promise you, in one year, you’re going to see a different city,” said Adams at a campaign watch party for in-person voting results. “We’re going to bring businesses here. We’re going to become the center of life science, the center of cybersecurity, the center of self-driving cars, drones, the center of Bitcoins.”
The mayoral primaries in New York City were held in-person this past Tuesday, but due to the sheer number of mail-in ballots, the official outcome will not be known for weeks.
Adams says New York has “lost its mojo” and invokes Bitcoin and crypto-currency, along with vertical farming. He says people today are waking up with a “different strut”
— Ross Barkan (@RossBarkan) June 24, 2021
Adams, a former cop and lifelong New York politician, was one of the more liberal Democrats in the election. According to reporter Ross Barkan, he mentioned Bitcoin again at a news conference this morning, and stressed that New York City must compete with Miami’s growing commercial ambitions. (Miami’s mayor, Francis Suarez, is a prominent crypto influencer.)
In 2015, he made a similar sarcastic quip about bringing new technologies to the city. “I want Bitcoin,” he said at an event. “I want Airbnb. And I want marijuana dispensaries.”
Many Democratic mayoral candidates have remained silent on bitcoin (there are, of course, more urgent municipal issues to address); the one who has spoken out the most is Andrew Yang, a former presidential contender who stopped his mayoral campaign on Tuesday evening after a poor showing.
Yang tweeted in February that he hoped to create New York City his home. “a hub for [Bitcoin] and other cryptocurrencies.”
Brock Pierce, a former child actor and crypto aficionado, has also openly supported Adams.