New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that he will be receiving his first three paychecks in cryptocurrency as a part of his pledge to keep the city “on the forefront of innovation.”
“New York is the center of the world and we want it to be the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations,” Eric Adams said in a press release. “Being on the forefront of such innovation will help us create jobs, improve our economy, and continue to be a magnet for talent from all over the globe.”
Since federal law doesn’t allow New York City to pay its employees in cryptocurrency, the first check will automatically be converted to Bitcoin and Ethereum before it gets deposited into his account.
New data even shows that a high number of Bitcoin miners are based in New York and Texas, so Adams’ strategy to welcome these miners is working, in turn helping with the post-pandemic recovery, per NBC News New York.
He isn’t the only one championing cryptocurrency. Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez also vowed to make Miami “the first city in America to give a bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to its residents” through the MiamiCoin initiative started in 2021, per Coin Desk.
Adams can’t pay rent or bills via cryptocurrency yet or buy food or a subway ticket. So, what will he do with the money? According to The Guardian, communications director at Coin Center Neeraj Agrawal said that Adams should just “hold on to it as an investment,” adding, “that has become the more common use of bitcoin these days,” he added.