The Mayor of New York Still Believes His City Will Be a Crypto Center with Environmentally Friendly Technology

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is still focused on making New York a world crypto hub. (photo: Twitter @nycgov)

JAKARTA – The Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is still focused on making New York City the world's crypto center. As reported on Nov. 25, he believes the target can be combined with statewide efforts to curb environmental impacts related to crypto mining.

The comments follow up on a new law signed by the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, that bans proof-of-work (PoW) mining activities for two years in the state. Adams, who is known as a crypto-supporting mayor, said last June, that he would ask the governor to veto the bill.

According to Adams, with the bill signed into law, the city council will work with legislators to find a balance between the development of the crypto industry and the needs of the legislature.

"I will be working with legislators who support and those who have concerns, and I believe we will come to a great meeting place," Adams told The NY Daily News.

The PoW mining moratorium would not only ban new mining operations but also deny renewal of permits to those already operating in the state. Any new PoW mining operations in the state can only operate if they run on 100% renewable energy.

The United States currently leads the share of Bitcoin mining hash rate by country, with 37.8% of the Bitcoin network hash rate coming from the land of Uncle Sam. A two-year moratorium on PoW mining could mean a costly and even domino effect for other states to follow.

“We have to be a hospitable place for all technology. And crypto is part of the whole technology that we're looking at,” said Adams. "The question is: how do we make smart choices so that New York City, and America, become leaders in this new technology?" Adams added.

After being elected mayor in the last election in New York, the politician once said on Twitter that he would take his first three paychecks in cryptocurrency and announced his intention to make NYC the "center of the cryptocurrency industry."

New York has some of the strictest crypto exchange rules in the United States. In June 2015, the country introduced the regulatory regime BitLicense, which has been criticized for being hostile to crypto. BitLicense applies to crypto organizations involved in the transfer, purchase, sale, exchange or issuance of crypto.