New York City Mayor-Elect Wants To Be Paid In Bitcoin

Politico reports:

New York City mayor-elect Eric Adams plans to convert his first paychecks into Bitcoin, as he vowed Thursday to make the city more welcoming to cryptocurrency. Adams announced in a Twitter post that he would take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin when he becomes mayor. Adams was responding to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who said he will also take his next paycheck in Bitcoin.

Adams’ campaign spokesperson Evan Thies later clarified that the mayor-elect would convert his pay into Bitcoin through an exchange. The city lacks a mechanism to issue salaries in anything other than U.S. dollars. The announcement was a clear statement of political support for crypto, and follows remarks Adams made this week indicating he wants to attract more crypto jobs to New York and possibly create a digital currency for the city.

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Not only is this a bad economic strategy for NYC and a bad investment decision, it also seems like a conflict of interest.

Like a Mayor announcing “I’m buying a lot of Amazon stock and then going to put in places policies to benefit Amazon.”https://t.co/kuSQ06KVj4

— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) November 5, 2021

In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor. NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!

— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) November 4, 2021