Newly elected New York mayor wants his salary to be paid to him in Bitcoin

Eric Adams, former police captain, Democrat and black, was elected mayor of New York this week. He will replace Bill de Blasio in January. Following his election, the lucky winner was quick to share on social media his desire to make New York the “center of the cryptocurrency industry”.

A new trend

“In New York, we always do it big, so I’m going to take my first three Bitcoin paychecks when I become mayor,” Adams wrote in a Twitter post. These words echo recent statements by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. After his re-election, the latter had also declared on Twitter that he would take his first pay in Bitcoin.

The objective of the two mayors is to make their city an exchange hub for decentralized currencies. While Eric Adams promises to study the reasons that are slowing down cryptocurrency investments in New York, Francis Suarez is helping to create a cryptocurrency called MiamiCoin. Managed by the non-profit organization CityCoins, it allows citizens to invest in the city in cryptocurrencies. According to the Washington Post, MiamiCoin has already raised $ 7 million. To go further, Francis Suarez also wants to develop a Bitcoin payment method for salaries and taxes in Miami. An example that Mr. Adams said he wanted to follow for New York City.

A controversial ambition

If Mr. Adams and L. Suarez want to make their cities cryptocurrency hubs, not everyone. Recently, New York Attorney General Letitia James launched a crackdown on unregistered cryptocurrency companies. She also plans to run for governor of New York.

From a purely practical point of view, many negotiations are also to be expected. Cryptocurrency still faces major hurdles as a tool for daily payments. For example, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) taxes these tokens as property. The IRS, the agency of the United States federal government, is responsible for collecting income tax and miscellaneous taxes. Questions also arise as to how a salary in Bitcoin would be compatible with federal labor law.

Following the announcement, Adams campaign spokesperson Evan Thies clarified that the mayor-elect would convert his salary into Bitcoin through an exchange. Indeed, the city does not (yet) have a mechanism to pay salaries in a currency other than the US dollar.

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