NYC Mayor stands by Bitcoin pledge amid bear market, FTX: Report

December 12, 2022 Coin Telegraph

During Eric Adams’ time in office, the NY state government passed a law which will implement a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work mining, and the crypto market turned bearish.

Eric Adams, who became mayor of New York City in January, has reportedly stood behind a campaign pledge to make the city a crypto hub, despite a drop in the price of many tokens in 2022.

According to a Dec. 12 report from Slate, Adams suggested he still wanted New York City to be the “center of the cryptocurrency industry” — one of the plans he announced during his mayoral run in November 2021. The New York City mayor reportedly converted the first of his three paychecks while in office into Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in January and February, prior to the crypto market downturn.

“Mayor Adams believes cryptocurrency, blockchain, and other emerging technologies offer an incredible opportunity for innovation and economic growth over the long term, and he wants to see that happen right here in New York,” reportedly said Jonah Allon, a press secretary for Adams. “As with all financial products, price fluctuations are an expected feature of the market — and it is shortsighted to believe that setbacks in an industry are an indication that it won’t experience long-term growth.”

Slate’s estimates suggested that Adams may have lost up to 60% of his crypto investment — assuming he HODLed those funds — based on the price of BTC and ETH. At the time of publication, the BTC price was $16,998, having dropped more than 66% in the previous 12 months, while ETH was $1,249, having fallen roughly 70% over the same period.

During Adams’ time in office, the New York state government passed a law which will implement a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work mining. The NewYorkCityCoin (NYCCoin) project, which launched in November 2021 with the then mayor-elect’s support, has also fallen more than 93% in the last 12 months, reaching a price of roughly $0.0003 at the time of publication.

The collapse of crypto exchange FTX has also seemingly spurred state regulators and lawmakers to action, with New York Attorney General Letitia James recommending that crypto investments be prohibited from certain retirement funds. New York Representative Ritchie Torres also penned a letter on Dec. 6 requesting the U.S. Government Accountability Office look into the performance of the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding FTX.

NYC Mayor Undeterred by FTX Collapse — Insists Crypto Is an Industry ‘We Must Embrace’

November 24, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Crypto-Friendly New York City Mayor Eric Adams Still Supports Digital Assets Despite FTX Implosion: Report

November 18, 2022 The Daily Hodl

Miami and New York City coins tank despite Mayoral endorsements

May 17, 2022 Coin Telegraph

CityCoins

“People will stop mining the coin if they can’t make money off of it,” according to Michael Bloomberg who referred to the two previously hyped city coins.

Despite being publicly endorsed by the respective mayors of both cities, MiamiCoin (MIA) and NewYorkCityCoin (NYC) have plunged 90% and 80% since their all-time highs.

According to data from CoinGecko, the price of MIA has dropped 92% since its ATH of $0.055 on Sept. 20 to sit at $0.004 at the time of writing. While NYC’s value has fallen by 80% since its March 3 high of $0.006 to trade at $0.0014.

With investors getting burned across many other crypto assets of late, demand for MIA and NYC coins has almost completely dried up.

Trading volume for the duo over the past 24 hours has totaled a mere $70,190 and $45,663 respectively. In comparison, when MIA and NYC were at ATH levels, they generated $1.6 million and $260,000 worth of 24 volumes apiece.

Miami mayor Frances Suarez has spoken about the potential use-cases of MIA on multiple occasions, and most recently announced in February that the local government had disbursed $5.25 million from its reserve wallet to support a rental assistance program.

New York City mayor Eric Adams also welcomed NYC with open arms in November after he stated that “we’re glad to welcome you to the global home of Web3! We’re counting on tech and innovation to help drive our city forward.”

The assets were developed by the CityCoins project, a Stacks layer-on blockchain-based protocol aiming to provide crypto fundraising avenues for local governments such as Miami and New York City, its two and only partners so far.

A key incentive — despite potential regulatory gray areas — is that CityCoins’ smart contracts automatically allocate 30% of all mining rewards to a custodied reserve wallet for the partnered city, while miners receive the remaining 70%.

As of January this year, the value of Miami and New York City’s reserve wallets had hit around $24.7 million and $30.8 million respectively according to CityCoins Community Lead Andre Serrano, suggesting there had been relatively strong community demand to mine the asset at the time.

However, while the governments have benefited from the partnerships, on the user/investor side of things it appears the share of mining rewards, and a supposed 9% annual BTC yield from “stacking” (essentially staking) the assets on the Stacks (STX) blockchain, is not enticing enough to drive strong demand.

Michael Bloomberg, an urban technology researcher at Cornell Tech, recently suggested to Quartz that the coins could even become useless to the cities if extra utility isn’t added capture investor appetite:

“People will stop mining the coin if they can’t make money off of it, and the only way they make money off of it is convincing greater fools to participate.”

NYC Mayor Eric Adams Defends Receiving Paycheck in Bitcoin as Price Crashes

January 26, 2022 Bitcoin.com

NYC Mayor Eric Adams Converts First Paycheck to Bitcoin and Ether via Coinbase

January 22, 2022 Bitcoin.com

NYC Mayor Adams to receive first paycheck in cryptocurrency Friday

January 20, 2022 Coin Telegraph

BTC

Mayor Eric Adams previously said he would be accepting his first three paychecks, or $97,000 annualized, in cryptocurrency.

On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced he would be taking his first paycheck in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), with the funds arriving Friday. The salary will not be directly paid out as crypto; instead, it will be first issued in fiat as U.S. dollars and then converted into the digital currencies on crypCoinbase.

Due to United States Department of Labor and various state-level regulations, resident U.S. employees typically cannot receive their remuneration directly in cryptocurrency. This is partly because the Internal Revenue Service classifies dollar wage payments as income, whereas items such as stock-based compensation or cryptocurrencies are classified as property.

Mayor Adams issued the following statement regarding his choice of remuneration:

“New York is the center of the world, and we want it to be the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations. Being at the forefront of such innovation will help us create jobs, improve our economy, and continue to be a magnet for talent from all over the globe.”

Matt Fraser, NYC's chief technology officer, added:

“This step taken by the mayor provides a leading example of how we can empower people through tech with a more diverse set of options to manage their finances.”

NYC Mayor Undeterred by Falling Bitcoin Price, Says Buying the Dip Could Yield ‘Good Profit’

January 7, 2022 Bitcoin.com

NYC Mayor Eric Adams Reiterates City’s Commitment to Bitcoin, Says ‘The Best Time To Buy Is When Things Come Down’

January 7, 2022 The Daily Hodl

NYC mayor getting paid in Bitcoin suggests buying the dip

January 6, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Should Eric Adams accept his first three paychecks in Bitcoin, he would likely acquire more than 1 BTC following the price drop to $42,948.

Newly sworn-in New York City Mayor Eric Adams is already using his influence to publicly speak about buying the recent Bitcoin dip.

In a Thursday interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Adams said he had not yet received his first paycheck as the mayor of New York City, but reiterated his aim to make the city a Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto hub. When co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin pointed out that the price of the crypto asset has “come down” — dipping as low as $43,000 earlier today — the NYC mayor seemed to be undeterred.

"Sometimes the best time to buy is when things go down, so when they go back up, you made a good profit,” said Adams. “We need to use the technology of blockchain, Bitcoin, of all other forms of technology. I want New York City to be the center of that technology.”

"Sometimes the best time to buy is when things go down," says @NYCMayor on #bitcoin. "I'm going to take my first three paychecks in #bitcoin. I haven't received my first check yet." pic.twitter.com/dqGkVYxOKg
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 6, 2022

Adams, who has been in office five full days following a November election win, is replacing Bill de Blasio as the mayor of New York City. During his campaign, he pledged to make New York City a tech hub that will be ”the center of cybersecurity, the center of self-driving cars, drones, the center of Bitcoins,” beating out crypto-friendly businessman Andrew Yang to become the Democratic party nominee.

As part of his efforts to promote crypto and blockchain technology — or perhaps inspired by a friendly feud with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez — Adams announced following the election that he planned to take his first three paychecks in BTC. Assuming the NYC mayor accepts a base salary of $258,750, his monthly paychecks would be roughly $21,562 each, a total of 1.51 BTC at a price of $42,948.

New York state is often the center of media attention related to regulation and enforcement for crypto firms in the United States. The New York Attorney General’s office was responsible for a settlement case from Bitfinex and Tether, which in February agreed to pay $18.5 million in damages, as well as ordering Coinseed to close its doors after the firm allegedly defrauded investors out of more than $1 million.

eric adams