As Mayor Eric Adams began his address at the City's first-ever "NYC Crypto Summit" on Tuesday afternoon, he took a long, deep inhale. "I smell money," he said, with a satisfied smirk.
The rest of the room of crypto-investors and crypto-influencers laughed uncomfortably, probably surprised at how quickly Adams was willing to drop the veneer that crypto does anything besides let people sluice money into highly volatile speculative markets. The summit itself was the culmination of Adams's embrace of the welcoming arms of crypto-backed donors, who had for years been cultivating Adams as someone who would happily push their agenda. Adams is a recipient of massive campaign donations from Puertopia's Brock Piece. "Crypto, crypto, blockchain, and all the good things," Adams continued, before turning to his own crypto investments.
"I was literally the first mayor in history to take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin," he said. "I remember when I did it, they all laughed at me. Reporters mocked me. They all said, 'What's he talking about?' And I keep telling them over and over again, 'Who's laughing now?'"
Not us at Hell Gate.