ERIC ADAMS PULLS CRYPTO-PAYCHECK STUNT HOURS BEFORE BITCOIN CRASH
Eric Adams, mayor of New York, speaks during a news conference outside the Manhattan Civil Courthouse on January 13, 2022.
In November, New York City mayor Eric Adams found himself in what one might call a pissing contest with Miami mayor Francis Suarez, over who would accept more of his salary in cryptocurrency. “In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor,” Adams tweeted after Suarez stated that “100%” of his next check would be doled out in Bitcoin. “NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!” On Thursday, Adams, who was sworn in on New Year’s Day, informed New Yorkers that he had followed through with his commitment. “Promise made, promise kept. I took my first check in Bitcoin and Ethereum,” he said in a clip shared to Twitter.
Unfortunately for hizzoner, he chose a particularly bad time to put all of his eggs into the internet’s favorite speculative market. Hours after his announcement, both Bitcoin and Ethereum fell off a cliff, causing the mayor’s crypto check to lose about 10% of its value in the span of a single day. This latest crash, which resulted in a market loss of more than $205 billion, was partly triggered by the news that Russia’s central bank is weighing a nationwide ban on the use and mining of cryptocurrencies. Despite experiencing relative gains over the past two years, the crypto market has proven especially volatile of late. In September, the value of the world’s cryptocurrencies dropped roughly 9% after a Chinese crackdown.
As for New York’s chief crypto enthusiast, Adams isn’t exactly “taking his paychecks in Bitcoin.” Instead, the mayor said that he used Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, to convert the funds from his check into Bitcoin and Ethereum. “Adams isn’t being ‘paid in Bitcoin’ any more than using his paycheck to buy Shake Shack equals being ‘paid in cheeseburgers,’” explained tech executive Anil Dash in a Thursday tweet.
While Adams has framed his paycheck publicity stunt as a way to showcase New York as “the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations,” his interest in crypto may also be related to his close relationship with crypto entrepreneur Brock Pierce, who reportedly gave Adams a ride to Puerto Rico—its own kind of crypto haven—on his private jet in November. (Adams had said he paid his own way.)
Adams isn’t the only U.S. politician to recently dive into the cryptoverse. A few weeks ago, Republican congressional candidate Josh Mandel listed his love of Bitcoin beside his commitment to the “Almighty God” and his family, while outlining the issues he represents. “Ohio must be a pro-God, pro-family, pro-bitcoin state. I promise we will be,” tweeted Mandel, who is running for a Senate seat in Ohio. In December, Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced he is exploring a program that would allow businesses to pay the state in cryptocurrency, stating, “Our view as the state government is this is something that we welcome and we want to make sure that the state government is crypto-friendly.”
NYC’s mayor hopes the city will be “the center of the cryptocurrency industry.” But his recent effort to prove it—taking his paycheck in crypto, if it can even be called that—ended less than ideally.
In November, New York City mayor Eric Adams found himself in what one might call a pissing contest with Miami mayor Francis Suarez, over who would accept more of his salary in cryptocurrency. “In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor,” Adams tweeted after Suarez stated that “100%” of his next check would be doled out in Bitcoin. “NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!” On Thursday, Adams, who was sworn in on New Year’s Day, informed New Yorkers that he had followed through with his commitment. “Promise made, promise kept. I took my first check in Bitcoin and Ethereum,” he said in a clip shared to Twitter.
Unfortunately for hizzoner, he chose a particularly bad time to put all of his eggs into the internet’s favorite speculative market. Hours after his announcement, both Bitcoin and Ethereum fell off a cliff, causing the mayor’s crypto check to lose about 10% of its value in the span of a single day. This latest crash, which resulted in a market loss of more than $205 billion, was partly triggered by the news that Russia’s central bank is weighing a nationwide ban on the use and mining of cryptocurrencies. Despite experiencing relative gains over the past two years, the crypto market has proven especially volatile of late. In September, the value of the world’s cryptocurrencies dropped roughly 9% after a Chinese crackdown.
As for New York’s chief crypto enthusiast, Adams isn’t exactly “taking his paychecks in Bitcoin.” Instead, the mayor said that he used Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, to convert the funds from his check into Bitcoin and Ethereum. “Adams isn’t being ‘paid in Bitcoin’ any more than using his paycheck to buy Shake Shack equals being ‘paid in cheeseburgers,’” explained tech executive Anil Dash in a Thursday tweet.
While Adams has framed his paycheck publicity stunt as a way to showcase New York as “the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations,” his interest in crypto may also be related to his close relationship with crypto entrepreneur Brock Pierce, who reportedly gave Adams a ride to Puerto Rico—its own kind of crypto haven—on his private jet in November. (Adams had said he paid his own way.)
Adams isn’t the only U.S. politician to recently dive into the cryptoverse. A few weeks ago, Republican congressional candidate Josh Mandel listed his love of Bitcoin beside his commitment to the “Almighty God” and his family, while outlining the issues he represents. “Ohio must be a pro-God, pro-family, pro-bitcoin state. I promise we will be,” tweeted Mandel, who is running for a Senate seat in Ohio. In December, Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced he is exploring a program that would allow businesses to pay the state in cryptocurrency, stating, “Our view as the state government is this is something that we welcome and we want to make sure that the state government is crypto-friendly.”
NYC’s mayor hopes the city will be “the center of the cryptocurrency industry.” But his recent effort to prove it—taking his paycheck in crypto, if it can even be called that—ended less than ideally.
