Bulletins

Incoming New York City Mayor Eric Adams wants to be paid in bitcoin

Adams hopes to turn New York into a more crypto-friendly city.

New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams

Incoming New York City Mayor Eric Adams wants the city to be crypto-friendly.

Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Fresh off a landslide election victory for New York City mayor, Eric Adams said he would take his first three paychecks in the form of bitcoin.

Adams tweeted: "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!"

The move came just two days after Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said he would take his next paycheck "100% in bitcoin" to become the first American politician to accept a salary in cryptocurrency.

Adams hopes to make New York City more friendly to businesses, particularly the tech sector. He told Bloomberg in an interview yesterday: "We're too bureaucratic, too expensive, and too difficult to do business." Adams also said he wanted New York to become a crypto-friendly city.

New York's tech economy has boomed in recent years. Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Stripe and Roku have all attempted to expand in New York since the initial COVID-19 commercial real estate downturn.

The New York tech expansion has often occurred in the face of strong political opposition. Amazon, for instance, had to roll back its plans for placing a second headquarters in Queens after progressive activists and union leaders challenged the $3 billion government incentive plan.

Hirsh Chitkara

Hirsh Chitkara ( @HirshChitkara) is a reporter at Protocol focused on the intersection of politics, technology and society. Before joining Protocol, he helped write a daily newsletter at Insider that covered all things Big Tech. He's based in New York and can be reached at hchitkara@protocol.com.

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