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

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.

Related: Crypto City: Guide to New York

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.