New York City's Bitcoin-friendly mayor Eric Adams is strongly opposing a recent bill passed by the New York State senate to impose a two-year moratorium on new fossil fuel-powered proof of work (PoW) crypto mining operations.
Speaking to Crain’s on Monday, Adams told interviewer Brian Pascus that he plans to ask Governor Kathy Hochul to “consider vetoing the bill that is going to get in the way of cryptocurrency upstate.”
For Adams, cryptocurrency is an undeniable part of the state’s economy thanks to the “billions of dollars that are spent on cryptocurrency.” He added that, “We can’t continue to put barriers in place.”
However, should Hochul sign the bill, New York would become the first state in the U.S. to curtail the country’s global dominance in Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin miners already active in the state would find their electrical consumption capped at its current levels.
Mayor Adams has previously spoken out against cryptocurrency mining. During a question and answer session on this year’s Executive Budget Proposal, Adams was asked to clarify his position on cryptocurrency mining. He replied: “I support cryptocurrency, not crypto mining.”
Whether or not Governor Hochul signs the bill remains an open question. She has previously told reporters that crypto mining could create more jobs in the state.
Adams and Crypto
Like Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Jackson Mayor Scott Conger, Eric Adams is keen to integrate crypto into his city’s economy.
Last year, Adams made New York the second American city after Miami to embrace Stacks Protocol’s “City Coins.” In practice, NYCCoin works like MiamiCoin: people support their city by buying or mining the cryptocurrency. To mine a City Coin, people forward STX tokens to a given Stacks block. This is a one-way process and miners are then rewarded with City Coins.
Those who choose to lock up their City Coins in the Stacks protocol are between them all rewarded with 70% of the STX spent in the mining process. The remaining 30% of the STX are diverted to the city's treasury and the local government decides how it will be spent.
After winning last year’s NYC mayoral elections, Adams pledged to join Francis Suarez in taking his first three paychecks in Bitcoin. True to his word, Adams cashed out his first paycheck in both Bitcoin and Ethereum earlier this year.
Last month, he implored American lawmakers to cooperate with and “listen to those within the industry as they begin building a regulatory infrastructure for crypto.