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NYC Gets Own Cryptocurrency After Mayor-Elect Adams Touts Bitcoin

NYC Gets Own Cryptocurrency After Mayor-Elect Adams Touts Bitcoin

New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams’ pro-crypto stance appears to be showing early signs of working, with a community-led crypto project planning to create a dedicated city-based token. 

CityCoins, which works on the Stacks protocol, decided to develop the token after Adams engaged in a friendly online banter with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez over Bitcoin, including taking paychecks in the largest cryptocurrency by market value. Adams has vowed to build a crypto-friendly city when he takes office in January. 

“We voted on what city should be next,” Patrick Stanley, a CityCoins community lead, told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. The top two choices were New York City and Austin. After Mayor Adams spoke last week, “the community to decided to activate New York.” 

CityCoins launched a Miami token in August. MiamiCoin has earned the city over $21 million to date, according to CityCoins. Outsiders can send STX tokens to “mine” MiamiCoin, and a percentage goes to the city’s designated crypto wallet. STX was last trading at around $2.30 and had a market capitalization of about $2.9 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.com. 

NYCCoin mining is expected to kick off Wednesday, after which the city’s wallet stands to get fatter, Stanley said. 

“Every 10 minutes the city earns money for the sheer fact that NYCCoin exists. The wallet will get filled with Stacks and they can spend the Stacks or the yield the Stacks generate,” he said. 

“We’re glad to welcome you to the global home of Web3,” Adams responded to CityCoins’ choice in a tweet.  

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