Democrat Eric Adams, who said he planned to make New York City “the center of Bitcoins” if elected mayor, has won his race against Republican Curtis Sliwa. Following the Nov. 2 Election Day results, Adams will be replacing Bill de Blasio as the mayor of New York City, defeating Sliwa and other candidates with 72.8% of the vote. He is expected to take office on Jan. 1. It's official -- our five-borough, knock-every-door, reach-every-voter campaign was successful: We have won the race for Mayor of New York City! This is my dream come true, and I couldn’t be more proud …

Crypto lending firm Celsius Network has confirmed it is one of three platforms requested to provide information to the New York Attorney General’s office. In a Tuesday blog post, Celsius said it was not one of the two unnamed crypto lending platforms that New York Attorney General Letitia James ordered to “cease any and all such activity” around selling or offering cryptocurrencies. Rather, Celsius said it was “working on providing regulators in New York” with information regarding its business. “If any regulatory or technical changes are required in a specific jurisdiction, Celsius will provide clear and timely communication as needed,” …

Cryptocurrency lending firm Nexo Financial denies the allegations of offering unregistered services to New Yorkers put forth by Attorney General Letitia James. Attorney General James directed two unnamed crypto lending companies to cease operations on Monday, citing failure to register the business in New York and performing unlawful activities. Crypto lender Nexo is revealed to be one of the two companies to receive the cease and desist order from the Office of the Attorney General. Denying its involvement in unlawful operations, a Nexo spokesperson said: “Nexo is not offering its Earn Product and Exchange in New York, so it makes …

The New York Attorney General’s office has alleged two unnamed crypto lending platforms operating in the state have engaged in unlawful activities and ordered three others to provide information on their businesses. In a Monday announcement, the New York Attorney General’s office said it has ordered two crypto lending platforms — at the time of publication, the names were still redacted — to “cease any and all such activity” relating to selling or offering securities and commodities within ten days. Attorney General Letitia James also requested that three crypto businesses operating in New York — names redacted — provide details …

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has been asked by a group of local businesses to deny permits for converting the city’s old fossil-fuel power plants into crypto mining centers. The request comes in the form of a letter co-signed by a number of organizations, businesses and labor groups. The letter calls for an environmental assessment for proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrency mining in the state of New York while urging Governor Hochul to deny permits to convert the Greenidge Generating Station and the Fortistar North Tonawanda power plants into crypto mining facilities: “Proof-of-Work cryptocurrency mining use enormous amounts of energy to …

Bakkt Holdings, the digital assets management arm of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has announced it will soon become a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, starting Oct. 18. The public listing for Bakkt comes as a result of a merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings, a Chicago-based special purpose acquisition company. According to an official statement, a shareholders meeting regarding the merger saw approximately 85.1% approval for the business combination: “Upon closing, the combined company’s Class A common stock and warrants are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbols “BKKT” …

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged 12 New York-based crypto options businesses with allegedly failing to register with the regulatory body. In a Thursday press release, the CFTC outlined that it is charging 14 entities in total, with the 12 crypto-focused firms all on the hook for failing to register as futures commission merchants (FCMs). All of the firms were "allegedly based in New York." The other two companies have allegedly posted misleading information about their National Futures Association (NFA) membership and registration with the CFTC. The listed crypto options providers include relatively unknown names such as Bitfxprofit, …

Curtis Sliwa, a beret-wearing Republican running to be the mayor of New York City, said one of the goals of his campaign is to focus on crypto. In a Wednesday tweet, Sliwa said he would be focusing on creating greater financial inclusivity in New York City by opening more crypto ATMs and incentivizing businesses to accept cryptocurrency. According to his campaign website, however, the mayoral candidate currently only accepts donations in U.S. dollars using personal checks or credit cards. As NYC #Mayor, I will make #NYC the most cryptocurrency-friendly city in the nation Property taxes, fines & fees will be …

Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York — who has been in office for only a week since the departure of Andrew Cuomo — has nominated Adrienne Harris to lead the state’s Department of Financial Services. According to a Tuesday Wall Street Journal report, Hochul tapped Harris to lead the New York Department of Financial Services, or NYDFS, following the resignation of Superintendent Linda Lacewell. Harris is currently a senior adviser at the public relations firm Brunswick Group, but prior to that was a special assistant for economic policy to United States President Barack Obama and a senior adviser to …

Ripple has filed a motion to compel the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose its internal cryptocurrency trading policies as part of the ongoing legal battle with the securities regulator. James Filan, an attorney closely following the SEC's case against Ripple, shared a new motion document seeking to bring clarity to whether the SEC permitted its own employees to trade XRP, which, as per the regulator’s allegations, is an unregistered security. Filed on Friday on behalf of several defendants — including Ripple Labs, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and Ripple executive chairman Chris Larsen — the motion asks the …

JPMorgan Chase quietly opened up access to six crypto funds over the past three weeks as it looks to offer crypto exposure to a variety of clients. In the latest move, the bank’s private clients will now have access to a new Bitcoin fund created by crypto investment firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). NYDIG is owned by Stone Ridge Asset Management and the “Stone Ridge Bitcoin Strategy Fund” offers exposure to Bitcoin via futures markets. The NYDIG fund is in addition to five crypto funds that the bank opened access to last month: Grayscale Investments’ Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, …

Powers On... is a monthly opinion column from Marc Powers, who spent much of his 40-year legal career working with complex securities-related cases in the United States after a stint with the SEC. He is now an adjunct professor at Florida International University College of Law, where he teaches a course on “Blockchain, Crypto and Regulatory Considerations.” Well, well, well. It seems that some of those class-action law firms that ferret out possible securities claims in search of fees and recovery for investors, sometimes wrapped self-righteously in the flag of investor harm and rights, are properly receiving a cold shoulder …