New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams plans to make NYC the center of crypto and innovation. He says we must open our schools to teach cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, noting that bitcoin is “a new way of paying for goods and services throughout the entire globe.”
NYC Mayor-Elect Wants Schools to Teach Bitcoin, Crypto, Blockchain
New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams talked about making NYC the center for innovation and cryptocurrency in an interview with CNN Business Sunday. He also explained the reasoning behind his tweet saying that he will take his first three paychecks in bitcoin.
Adams was asked, “Would you encourage businesses in New York City to accept bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies?” He replied: “We are going to look at it. We are going to tread carefully. We are going to get it right.”
He proceeded to explain: “l want to send a signal. This city was the Empire State … This is the center of innovation, self-driving cars, drone development, cybersecurity, life sciences. So when I talked about blockchain and bitcoin, young people on the street stopped and asked me: ‘What is that? What it is about?’”
The mayor-elect was then asked to explain exactly what bitcoin is. Noting that “Even experts will have a challenge doing that,” Adams replied:
It is a cryptocurrency. It’s a new way of paying for goods and services throughout the entire globe. And that is what we must do: open our schools to teach the technology and teach this new way of thinking when it comes down to paying for goods and services.
In June, Adams promised his supporters: “In one year, one year, you’re going to see a different city … We’re going to bring businesses here. We’re going to become the center of life science, the center of cybersecurity, the center of self-driving cars, drones, the center of bitcoins. We are going to be the center of all technology.”
Adams was also asked to comment on a tweet about him by Jason Furman, professor at Harvard University and chair of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama Administration.
Responding to Adams’ announcement that he would take his first three paychecks in BTC, Furman tweeted Thursday: “Not only is this a bad economic strategy for NYC and a bad investment decision, [but] it also seems like a conflict of interest.” He elaborated: “Like a mayor announcing ‘I’m buying a lot of Amazon stock and then going to put in places policies to benefit Amazon.’”
Without mentioning that, unlike Amazon, bitcoin is not a company and there is no bitcoin CEO to benefit from the rise of BTC, Adams emphasized that he is using his personal money. The mayor-elect shared:
I lost thousands of dollars in the stock market during the stock market crash in my retirement fund. Volatility is part of some of the investments that we make.
“He has his analysis. I have my analysis,” Adams stressed. “And I want to make sure that this city becomes the center of innovation, no matter what that innovation is. This is what the human spirit is about — not being afraid to look at every area of innovation as we move our country and city forward.”
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