Bitcoin Forum

Businessman and contender for the post of mayor of New York Andrew Young said that if he wins the election, he will turn the city into a hub for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.



Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao offered to help, and science journalist Erin Biba criticized the businessman's plans.



One of the users posted an ironic comment. According to him, the transformation of New York into a bitcoin hub is what the average resident of the city needs "with a sharp increase in rents and a crumbling infrastructure"


CoinShares Development Director Meltem Demirors noted that to implement the plan, Young will have to deal with high taxes and BitLicense one of the strictest sets of rules at the state level


Earlier, the US presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, Andrew Young, proposed a specific policy on cryptocurrencies and stated his position on the issue of regulating the cryptocurrency industry. So, in his opinion, the United States needs clear guidelines in the field of digital assets that will allow businesses and individual entrepreneurs to invest without looking at the regulator.


What are these political statements to attract votes during the election campaign or a trend that is gaining popularity if we take into account the earlier statements of the mayor of Miami (https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerhuang/2021/02/01/miamis-mayor-leads-the-charge-to-bring-bitcoin-to-americas-largest-cities/?sh=16f59ebcc6c9) about the wider use of bitcoin

I think that Yang will be a popular candidate among the young and millennial people that can vote, it is worth mentioning that the city is the most diverse city in USA but that also comes with a price which is racism. And if Yang were to ever win, I think that given the reputation of New York, his plan to make NY a hub for cryptocurrency will be a big success, many people there need money because they have the most expensive real estate there is.

I mean New York is still the major hub for financial transactions. So many different currencies are traded on Wall Street that it makes a lot of sense if crypto currencies would be traded there too. Asia might try to push other cities but it is likely not going to be enough. Also now with brexit Europe is divided, so London is going to lose influence in the long run.

This is good, but does crypto really need crypto hubs? The point of crypto is that it is global, people from around the world can interact with it. Are there any benefits to having offices of your crypto business, for example an exchange, in NYC instead of some other American city that might have lower taxes and less regulations?

Disappointing that it's the so-called science journalist who actually doesn't understand the environmental impact.  Whether New York becomes a crypto hub or not won't make the slightest bit of difference if they aren't mining.  Just goes to show you can't believe what you read in the papers these days.

Right, and we all know that electricity is very expensive in New York so that is out of the equation. Perhaps they can do some concessions, but I highly doubt that it will become lucrative. Attracting projects to established themselves in NY? Probably, but what are the incentives that will make them move to NY? I guess crypto is really on the hype as even the geo-political scene has somewhat been making moves with this kind of statements.

Maybe I see it from the point of view where election conditions always relate to issues that are trending and developing, where most people will be attracted to policies that feel in their favor. In the realm of politics, to be honest I think it's only just about attracting votes, because based on data the economy is going to be dominated by the increasing impact of the cryptocurrency industry. so it is clear to attract votes, the issue that will be the campaign material for the public is to fully support the development of digital cryptocurrency.
however, it will not be realized if it has been elected, because he will have a number of staff and subordinates as well as the political interests of their respective parties.
It should be noted that in the world of politics, economic issues are always the headline, but when elected they save their personal and group interests, not the public interest.

Yang became known for his crypto-friendly views during the US presidential race - which in fact only served to position him in public and allow him to become a serious candidate for NY mayor.  This is going very well for him so far, because according to recent research, he is currently the leading candidate (https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/538168-poll-finds-yang-with-big-lead-in-nyc-mayors-race) - which means that he has done a very good job in the past year.

We all know that politicians like to promise a lot in order to gain power, and I can completely agree with what Meltem Demirors wrote in her tweet - "i don't see how any crypto company wants to operate in an environment with high income, corporate, and real estate taxes + sales tax on top", so it would be good for Yang to say what he thinks on the matter.

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Anything is possible, even mining BTC in NY, of course with a profit.

While that is a very bold vision and a noble that will be supported by the young, here are the two reservation i do have;

1. The Minining of btc and other cryptocurrencies consume high rates of electricity. This does not support environmental sustainability and the fight against climate warming.

2. if he wins, he will become a political leader and not a business man. So, what i feel he should have said is that if he wins he would make policies that will promote btc and cryto businesses.

Well, it will be great he wins.

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Politicians use promses durng electioneering campaigns as leverage to get to the position. Most times, power corrupts and absolute power corrupt absolutely. So, they may decides to change their mind once they get to power. You see what Donald trump became after he won the election to become the president of the United States of America.

Well, he may change his mind, who knows. what can people do when he does that?

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

Anytime I see this news I think of how my country is going backward, we everyone is going the right way forward, country are priding themselves to adopt crypto-currency and making their jurisdiction area Bitcoin loving, my country which was Africa fastest Bitcoin adopters placed a ban on it, calling it The reasons for, the nation naira devaluation, source of crime and many more.

Right wing florida recently announced plans for becoming a low tax, cryptocurrency, tech industry, haven.

In an effort to remain competitive, left wing democrats like Andrew Yang, in left wing new york. Have to claim they're capable of doing the same.

Its a classic example of state versus state competition to attract investors, business and jobs.

Both left and right wing politics claim they will create a better and brighter future for those they represent. This is real world competition between the two sides playing out. A roadmap for which side follows through on its promises.

I'm not on Twitter, so if anyone would like to correct Erin Biba on their misinformation and explain to them how it actually works, feel free.  It's entirely possible to create a financial hub for crypto without increasing any carbon footprint.  All they have to do is run some software on the computers/servers they likely already have and already use for other things.



If I had to guess, the advertised benefit would be the established regulatory framework, given that New York pioneered the "bitlicense".  But, as I don't run a business myself, I can't say with any certainty if that's a genuine benefit or not.

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New york may already have tried this in 2018.

And it may have failed. Made a thread about it, here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4103639.0

I highly doubt that New York becomes a hub for bitcoin.  There are hardly any exchanges that even allow for people to purchase bitcoin who live in New York.  New York is VERY VERY strict when it comes to what financial products it's citizens are allowed to purchase.  

For example, at my old firm I used to work with annuities.  We offered about 40 different annuity options and for New York we were only able to offer two products and they were shit at that.  New York would have to undergo massive changes to it's financial policy for this to ever come to fruition.

I doubt it will ever become a hub for the average person.  As always, the politicians are likely more concerned with appeasing big corporations and party donors.  I assume they're talking about bending the rules for traditional finance Wall Street types to do whatever dodgy dealings they want to do, while throwing the book at any ordinary, non-bankster people who think they can do the same.  It's always one rule for them and another for the rest of us.

Today, he's making crypto investors a segment for his constituency.  If he says that, then the voice of crypto investors is absolutely with him and he will look for another segment that can win him over in this election.  Naturally, in the campaign there will be many things like this, and if the promise can be kept, maybe the price of Crypto will go to the sky with its implementation. But in the campaign there are many more dark things that often happen.  Crypto is only a small part of his goal success.  And it is clear how he got engagement from entrepreneurs in the crypto world

This is the point also bitcoin is not a central focused blockchain that should be getting others from one central body or miners would be required to take permission generally or to accept transactions or that fees are going to be fixed and remain stable by the decision of the NYC or US government. No, bitcoin or cryptocurrency is not restricted to any of that so I don't see the pur of NYC attaining the hub of bitcoin even if it has the largest ATM location.

There always will be people who favor or disfavor any new decision.

But I find it progressive and necessary to give the youth more opportunities. Blockchain, DeFi, AI & VR are the future!

New York was first in many things, so I guess there's a chance for New York to become a Bitcoin hub! At this moment, it's nothing more than political marketing. If he wins, and I don't know his current rating, maybe he is far away from the win, and with this move, he wishes to attract people from the crypto community, and probably the New York crypto scene is big! When he wins, he will need a lot of support from the entire city to push some changes.


Well, he is right, but I strongly believe that crypto can change many things! Before everything else, crypto is transparent, and it's what we all need in our cities and countries! We need to know that tax money is used for the right things! Corruption is at the highest levels, and it's the problem! Nothing can help us, except a fully transparent economy, where every citizen can check what's happening with the tax money at any moment!

Andrew Yang (who was a USA presidential candidate as well for a little while) is an interesting person but I can almost guarantee that he will not win the election Coumo has a huge New York backing and he will definitely continue with that. New York is a hard democrat state, just like California, but the difference is New York is a bit more centrist democrat, it will always be democrat and will ever change no doubt about that, I can't see a single chance republicans taking it, but the far progressive ones have hard time there as well (just look AOC).

Long story short Andrew Yang has zero chance. Yet if he did, Bitcoin is not something that can continue to exist in New York as long as bitlicense is a thing, remove that and you have a good chance, otherwise all the other environment and rent type of stuff are unrelated, we are not talking about mining here, just trading crypto, and that doesn't do anything to neither the earth nor to rents.

Andrew Yang was a candidate before for the presidency of the US but he seemed to see that he won't stand a chance so he just drops out to the presidential candidacy.

Maybe he's for this and he's going to be a better candidate and sees more chance of winning in the mayoral race in New York. With the offered help of CZ, I think it's all about funding and that really is a good backup for someone who's enthusiastic about bitcoin.

It might fail again but to be fair, we have to give it another shot. We don't know what Andrew Yang brings to the table so we have to see what he got, the 2018 seems to a half hearted initiative which means that measures taken are half hearted too. New York is a gathering of cultures and financial giants are harboring in this city and I think that a candidate that will be supported by people that wants the changes despite the ethnicity but at the same time will be fighting the giants that will get in the way of making a cryptocurrency friendly New York will be the most ideal face of NY.

Ordinary political lies and nothing more. He want attention from media and nothing more. I want to reminder that to be pro-crypto is not enough to be a good politician with good skills

LOL no. They had chances 5 years ago. NY is one of worst places on Earth to be as a Bitcoiner. A lot exchanges were and are available in other USA states, but not in New York.  If any state have advantage it is Wyoming.

First of all, New York needs to survive the pandemic crisis because they've been hit very bad by the covid-19 outbreak. Like most of the huge financial hubs of the world, New York has been suffering a lot and we will see whether the world will behave as before the pandemic hit. Therefore to become a bitcoin hub, NY will need a serious plan to overcome the recent crisis. I think bitcoin can really wait this time as there are other more important priorities.

I'm not sure that's ironic so much as sarcastic, and it's obvious to that person at least that there are more pressing issues in NYC than turning it into a crypto hub.

I can't say this is good news, because Andrew Young hasn't been elected (yet).  Right now it's just a politician's promise, and we all know those can go by the wayside once someone gets elected.  However it is nice to see someone running for office in New York mentioning crypto as part of his platform--and kind of neat if you ask me.  

But isn't New York one of the most regulated states in the US as far as bitcoin is concerned?  I've heard that New Yorkers don't have access to exchanges like Binance and others.  So Young can make promises like this all he wants, but he's got to get around whatever regulations are on the books right now in NY.  

It is showing that there are some leaders who knows about cryptocurrencies or atleast he pretends to be but is it possible to become real? People are commenting that they are willing to escape from the absurd tax rates but how is it possible for a government to sustain in this world when people willing to avoid tax paying.

It's just shows that how corrupt a country could be. If bitcoin is slowly adopting into ones country it will be seen as a threat to.the economy, the ones who ar ein power will to block these treat for their self interest. At this rate Africa will be left far over again compared to what a 1st world country is now, cities like New York, Japan, Korea, Singapore on and other cities will be soaring.

Building crypto hubs are not really necessary, I think. Government and other organizations just like to make things look like it is needed so crypto users will fall in to their plans. But not all users are not like that. Of course this will be argued by different people who have their own views about it, what are he potential benefits and problems may arise, and others such as reason, importance, etc. But since crypto are being used by anyone around the world, and we can actually access is anytime, anywhere, do we really need hubs??

and what about other states, like Miami?

Mayor of Miami:

"Having studied the possibilities of using BTC in Miami, thanks to the support of the city council, we plan to support the ability of enterprises to pay salaries in BTC, pay taxes in BTC, invest the city treasury in BTC"

The State of Miami is now waiting with open arms not only for Djigan, but for all the cryptans and readers of the DeFiamCheck blog.

Correct, it's not.  It's more a question of what New York would potentially gain by doing this, not what they have to offer us.  The main thing Bitcoin would get out of the deal is some positive headlines.  Recognition of increasing acceptance and adoption is always welcome.  But it's not an issue if this doesn't happen.



I wouldn't say it's anything that sinister.  A politician just feels it would be a lucrative opportunity.  I'm not seeing any deeper plot than that.

I don't think because the positive period of BTC is not reached this level yet. So we can't depend on just whatever one says. And the most important fact is cryptocurrency is a decentralized system so it may not depends on a hub just.

Looks to me like his real target are the rich people.
Is he trying to gain more power?
This doesn't look like a movement for an average Joe.
Or is it sympathy/support from the mass while gaining access to the circle of big institutional investors.

Something smells fishy in this claim.
Why suddenly, out of the blue?

The New York State Financial Services Authority (NYDFS) has granted permission to the BitGo custodial service to operate as a trust company https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210304005299/en/BitGo-Receives-NY-Trust-Charter-from-the-New-York-State-Department-of-Financial-Services

There’a a lot of states in US are taking their part to support cryptocurrency but of course, if big apple accepts Bitcoin that can be the new Bitcoin hub considering the businesses that is available on NYC. We need more countries and states to support Bitcoin, not just on US states but also in other countries. The crypto projects are growing indeed, and we’re still seeking for a good place where they allowed these companies to operate legally, this can be the start.

Yang had a good run for dem candidate and is now on the political map.  He would be good for NYC, and I'm sure given the current state of crypto in New York state currently a lot of crypto peoe would welcome yang with open arms.  He has some good positions and seems very level headed and reasonable.  Would like to see someone like him or him in the chair running nyc.

If making New York a bitcoin and cryptocurrencies hub is really a promise of the city mayor, then there is a high chance of him eventually winning the election since he will gain popularity among the young ones and the millennials because they are ready to accept change and they are the most enthusiastic about Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies.
However, you should know that it is not only the young ones who'll vote. There are a lot of people who don't know or are not interested in Bitcoin and who will vote so I think he should have some concrete plans for these other set of people. It is only when he's able to bring both categories to vote for him will he win the election

Erin's statements imply that Yang will power this supposed Hub under conventional means of electricity, which is nonrenewable fuels, but with the paradigm shift ongoijg right now to cleaner, greener, energy sources like solar electricity and wind energy, it can be argued that this fear Erin has about the environment being disrupted by the Hub could be fixed.

As of the moment, the main issue of environmentalists about bitcoin is how polluting it can be to the environment, with the use of fossil fuels as its main source of energy as of the moment, this comes as no surprise. But Yang is a visionary, and probably with the help of influential figures, in the field of energy, we can power this crypto hub in a renewable energy source, possibly wind or solar energy, which is becoming more and more efficient by the day.

I think that vision is very possible. Renewable energy is the current trend to combat the attack of the environmentalists. And I believe, that mission is not hard to accomplish. And show to the world that crypto business is not all about polluting the environment. I am looking forward on this goal and hopefully someone can realize this vision.

Mayor Andrew Yang's tweet had a good impact. Everyone wants to help and put their grain of sand. Some mentioned about the repeal of BitLicense as the CEO of Stacks.

There is another who believes that the mayor of NYC does not have the power to carry out such an idea. However, the majority of the most influential crypto community on Twitter wants to participate.

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Controversial case emerging in new york where bitfinex was fined and tether is now banned.

I don't understand criticism towards tether's dollar backing. It may not be 100% backed at all times. But it enjoys a far greater backing than every asset on markets aside from bitcoin and precious metals.

It is hard to believe new york can seriously commit to fair review of cryptocurrencies when they ban tether on kneejerk reactionary whims rather than hard evidence.

Given everything that you have already said, it is confidently assumed that in the near future, hiding behind the government, New York is unlikely to become a center for cryptocurrency. But if we take into account the migration of institutional capital on the cryptocurrency market, I believe that there is still a chance of success.

New York City Treasurer candidate Reshma Patel has unveiled an urban development plan based on investments in blockchain businesses and cryptocurrencies. https://www.coindesk.com/city-comptroller-candidate-says-blockchain-is-in-new-yorks-future



New York City Treasurer candidate Reshma Patel also unveiled her "BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY platform: HOW TO FUTURE-PROOF THE CITY AND ITS PENSION FUND"  https://www.reshma2021.com/blockchain
"My reason for running is that I am concerned about the financial health of New York City, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is clear that cryptocurrencies have a future in finance and a future in financial planning in New York," said the candidate for the post. Reshma Patel.