NYC Mayor Receives First Paycheck in Converted ETH, BTC

NYC Mayor Eric Adams pledged to accept pay in crypto, and tomorrow, he will

article-image

Mayor-elect Eric Adams; Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • Eric Adams is keeping his promise and will get paid in cryptocurrency on Friday
  • The funds will be converted to BTC and ETH through Coinbase before Adams’ can access them

New York City Mayor Eric Adams made good on his promise to receive his first paychecks in cryptocurrency, the Office of the Mayor said Thursday. 

Adams’ first paycheck, which arrives Friday, will be converted into bitcoin and ether through Coinbase before the funds are made available, according to the statement

“New York is the center of the world, and we want it to be the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations,” Adams said in the statement.

“Being on the forefront of such innovation will help us create jobs, improve our economy, and continue to be a magnet for talent from all over the globe.”

Adams had originally said via Twitter that he would receive his first three paychecks in bitcoin exclusively. Thursday’s statement clarifies that some of his compensation will also be delivered in ether, but the breakdown between the two was not disclosed. 

Creating a crypto-friendly city has been a central part of Adams’ platform. In November, he approved the launch of the NYCCoin, a token created by the CityCoin project. NYCCoin, currently available to trade on OKCoin, is mined by forwarding the Stacks token, $STX, to the NYCCoin smart contract. When tokens are successfully mined, a percentage of $STX forwarded by miners to the Stacks protocol goes into a wallet reserved for NYC. 

Coinbase’s paycheck feature was unveiled in September. The exchange now allows users to have paychecks directly deposited into their exchange accounts.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

EVM bottlenecks fundamentally hold back Ethereum’s scalability

article-image

In 2011, WikiLeaks faced a financial blockade imposed by the US government. It was Bitcoin’s first major test.

article-image

Kado’s founder Emery Andrew spoke to Blockworks about the acquisition and what’s next for the team

article-image

LayerZero’s Bryan Pellegrino chatted with Blockworks about the firm’s next steps and its 10-year runway

article-image

Colosseum co-founder Matty Taylor is seeing “high-performance [Solana] founders showing a lot of interest in private trading technology”

article-image

Executives weigh the growth potential they see in the public stock and private credit/equities arenas