NYC Mayor Adams Drops Out, Crypto Policies At Risk

New York’s crypto hub ambitions might be set for uncertainty after New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of his reelection bid on Sunday.

In a video on X on Sunday, Adams cited monetary struggles stemming from his dismissed federal bribery case and the withholding of public funds.

“Regardless of all that we’ve got achieved, I can’t proceed my reelection marketing campaign,” he stated earlier than including that the “fixed media hypothesis about my future and the marketing campaign finance board’s choice to withhold thousands and thousands of {dollars} has undermined my skill to boost the funds wanted for a critical marketing campaign.”

Adams initially gained workplace in 2022 on a public security platform in the course of the pandemic restoration and has been credited with decreasing crime and boosting the financial system. Nonetheless, his affiliation with varied scandals has been seen as a persistent legal responsibility.

“Though that is the tip of my reelection marketing campaign, it’s not the tip of my public service,” stated the mayor, earlier than including, “I’ll proceed to battle for this metropolis.”

Solely in America. Solely in New York.
Thanks for making my story a actuality. pic.twitter.com/efHuyBnITJ

— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) September 28, 2025

The Massive Apple’s Bitcoin advocate 

In Could, Adams spoke at a press convention to announce that New York Metropolis was “open for enterprise” for crypto companies.

Later in the identical month, he stated he would create a digital advisory council to draw jobs and funding to the Massive Apple and place it because the “crypto capital of the globe.”

“The age of tokenization, which incorporates crypto and blockchain and different fintech improvements, that age is right here, and we’re going to proceed to maneuver ahead with it,” he stated on the time. 

Associated: NYC mayor lays out crypto plans as city residents vote in Democratic primary

He additionally called for a Bitcoin bond to be launched within the metropolis and renewed calls to axe New York’s strict BitLicense program.

Nonetheless, New York Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander rejected the proposal, claiming it was “legally doubtful and fiscally irresponsible.”

No pro-crypto replacements 

Adams, at present polling in fourth place, confronted mounting stress from enterprise leaders who additionally oppose frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist assemblyman.

Mamdani has but to make clear his stance on crypto, however the trade appears concerned that his progressive/socialist strategy could also be unfriendly to the digital asset trade.

Democrat Andrew Cuomo is second within the race and has a combined however usually extra regulatory strategy to crypto. Cuomo beforehand labored as a paid adviser to the OKX crypto alternate because it handled a federal investigation.