Zohran Mamdani, the candidate of the Democratic Party for the Mayor of New York, will face a field of candidates in November, including those who have already taken posts firmly on the crypto and the blockchain.
Mamdani beat the former New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, with 43.5% of the votes in New York primary on Tuesday. The victory will put the member of the New York State assembly in competition with the Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, the current mayor of New York, Eric Adams, and Cuomo, who will present themselves as an independent candidate after the primary loss.
With the exception of Mamdani, all the main candidates previously occupied posts favorable to the cryptocurrency industry.
Adams first presented himself with the mayor as a democrat in 2021, saying that he would accept his first three pay checks in Bitcoin (BTC). He continued to speak during cryptographic conferences, to offer municipal obligations supported by BTC and to hold a summit of digital assets at the mayor’s residence.
Sliwa, although taking behind Mamdani according to many surveys, ran against Adams in 2021 on Pro-Crypto campaign messaging. Its platform included plans to open more automatic distributors of cryptographic tickets in New York and encourage local businesses to accept digital assets.
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Meanwhile, Cuomo would have advised the exchange of OKX cryptocurrency in 2021 while the American authorities investigated the company to operate a company of transmission of money without license. The scholarship ended up paying $ 505 million in fines and penalties.
Mamdani has publicly criticized Cuomo’s involvement with the exchange. “Andrew Cuomo could have spent the years since his resignation changed and helping New Yorkers,” he said in a post on April 2. “Instead, he tracked down the women who talked about his serial harassment, fought to maintain his book Deal Millions … and advised an exchange of foreign crypto that broke the American law.”
Mamdani faces the opposition of cryptographic figures
Since its main victory, Mamdani has faced public opposition from important figures in the cryptography industry, including the co-founder of the Cameron Winklevoss Gemini. Tyler Winklevoss also launched the idea of ”Get (Ting) involved in New York mayors’ race”, suggesting financial support to a candidate to defeat Mamdani.
The two brothers got involved in the American presidential election of 2024, promising millions of dollars in the then Donald Trump campaign. Anthony “Pomp” Poseliano, a supporter of Bitcoin and founder and CEO of Professional Capital Management, who also attended a Trump campaign event in New York, called on New Yorkers to oppose Mamdani.
The hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, with a net value of more than $ 9 billion, also suggested supporting any candidate with a chance to defeat Mamdani in the general elections:
“(T) Here are hundreds of millions of dollars in capital available to support a competitor of Mamdani who can be set up overnight (…) so that an excellent alternative candidate does not spend time raising funds. So, if the right candidate will raise his hand tomorrow, the funds will flocate.”
Cointelegraph stretched out Mamdani’s campaign for comments but had not received an answer at the time of publication.
What impact can a New York mayor have on the global cryptography industry?
The one who won the November elections could have a significant impact on New York cryptographic policies. As one of the largest activity centers in the United States, the city is the seat of several crypto companies, including stablecoin paxos and circle issuers, cryptocurrency exchange gemstones and the Moonpay payment company.
“If you are in the crypto, the blockchain, the web3 or the fintech space, New York is open to business,” said Mayor Adams on May 12.
At the state level, the New York Ministry of Financial Services demanded companies offering services and products related to the crypto to apply for a bit applying since 2015. Although many have criticized the license program – including Adams – any future mayor of New York in search of change could probably not be able to do political pressure in state legislators.
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