Currency events in Midtown
Young cryptocurrency millionaires — and those who want to learn more about their hot assets — converge weekly in the Big Apple to drink, exchange business cards, and enjoy their collective good fortune at being early to the second Internet gold rush.
The most recent gathering, held Monday in the upper room of Sean’s, a Midtown pub, featured dozens of 20and 30-something techies dressed like they were going for a day hike in Portland — mingling with each other and a smattering of women as they sipped pints of Guinness and nibbled burgers and fries.
The CryptoMondays event is the Big Apple’s largest meetup devoted to digital currency — but on Nov. 15 the chatter wasn’t about Dogecoin or DeFi, but Mayor-elect Eric Adams.
New York is far from the most crypto-friendly state in the union, thanks to the Department of Financial Service’s restrictive BitLicense, which anyone engaged in virtual-currency business must obtain, attendees griped. The license limits new coin offerings as well as some types of cryptobacked lending that fall under the decentralized finance or “DeFi” umbrella.
But they hope the new mayor — who has promised to make the city central to the booming new industry — can boost the local scene, while using his big-city bully pulpit to sway Albany to loosen crypto regs.
“I think Eric Adams is realizing that New York is very slow in terms of crypto adoption,” Nelson Merchan, 27, who runs a crypto-industry marketing firm, told The Post. “I think it’s a very smart move . . . I think it’s a move to compete with Miami.”
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has floated a city cryptocurrency that would pay a yield to Miami residents, eliminating residents’ need to pay taxes.
Not one to be outdone, Adams has argued cryptocurrency should be taught in schools and said he’ll take his first three paychecks “in Bitcoin.”
An Adams rep clarified that, since the city can only process payroll in American dollars, the mayor planned to take his pay, after taxes, and buy Bitcoin.
Sean Koh, a recording artist, said he plans to winter in “crypto hub” Miami — but he’s open to a more crypto-friendly New York.
“Everything is always about execution,” he said. “It really comes down to the details as far as how blockchain will help the city.”