Exclusive: NYC Mayor Eric Adams says Bitcoin can fix what Wall Street broke

Exclusive: NYC Mayor Eric Adams says Bitcoin can fix what Wall Street broke originally appeared on TheStreet.

New York has always been the money capital of the world — home to Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, and just about every major bank and fund that matters.

Now crypto is officially part of that story.

Since the launch of the first Bitcoin ETFs last year, legacy institutions have gone all in. Fidelity rolled out crypto IRAs. JPMorgan is in talks to launch its own stablecoin. And just about every big-name platform now offers Bitcoin to the same investors who’ve been buying stocks and bonds for decades.

TheStreet Roundtable’s Jackson Hinkle spoke with Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, about his vision for Bitcoin in New York’s economy and how the city can maintain its dominance in the financial space even as digital assets threaten to overtake traditional finance.

Adams’ history with Bitcoin

Adams has long been an advocate for digital assets, since before he was elected.

He even accepted his first three paychecks as mayor in Bitcoin in 2022, a promise he had made on the campaign trail in 2021 during an exchange with the Mayor of Miami on X, which has competed with New York to be the “crypto capital” of the U.S.

“When I became mayor, I knew I had a role to be both substantive and symbolic. The symbolism came with me taking my first three paychecks in Bitcoin,” he said. “That was a strong message because 10 years ago, the former governor decimated the industry. It was, I believe, an intentional act to take down the industry. I wanted to say to people who fled the city and state; come back. We’re open for business.”

Democratizing access to the economy for New Yorkers

Adams believes that Bitcoin creates opportunities for those who have been historically overlooked by Wall Street, and stated that he wants the city to normalize the use of Bitcoin for all types of payments. “We want to start allowing people to pay their utilities bills through Bitcoin.”

A recent report showed that more Americans now hold Bitcoin than gold, news that shocked investors everywhere, including crypto natives.

“50 million Americans now possess Bitcoins. We could double that number and we need to go into those communities that have been historically overlooked,” he exclaimed.

Story ContinuesHe also noted that “we are leaving communities behind.” Lawsuits and fraud in the industry have scared normal people away from entering the space and caused them to miss out on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, an issue Adams wants to solve through education and official government action.

“By taking it out of the shadows, we can start building it into our educational curriculum. We could have an office in our City Hall that’s dealing with digital currency. We want to normalize this the same way we’ve normalized other forms of currency,” he explained.

The plan to bring Bitcoin to the masses

Adams believes the initial work can be done through his mayoral power. Utility bills and other city payments can be reworked to accept Bitcoin without legislative action.

However, to achieve true lasting change for New Yorkers, he needs cooperation from state agencies and legislatures and called on Bitcoiners to “go to their local municipalities and tell their lawmakers it’s time to stop penalizing this industry.”

Exclusive: NYC Mayor Eric Adams says Bitcoin can fix what Wall Street broke first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 4, 2025

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.

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