NYC Mayor-Elect Eric Adams Wants Crypto Education In Schools

The Mayor-elect for New York City, Eric Adams, known for his pro-crypto stance, has said that schools in the city should include cryptocurrencies in their syllabus.

Adams, who wanted his first three paychecks in Bitcoin, told CNN on Friday that "we're going to tread carefully, we're going to get it right" when asked about his plans to encourage businesses to accept cryptocurrencies. His decision to accept paychecks in Bitcoin is a "signal" as he encourages New York City to encourage technological innovations and "build empires."

When asked what cryptocurrencies mean to him, Adams replied that cryptocurrencies are "a new way of paying for goods and services throughout the entire globe." The 61-year old Democrat pointed out that not many youngsters know what exactly cryptocurrencies are. "When I talked about blockchain and Bitcoins, young people on the street stopped and asked me, 'What is that?'" said the NYC Mayor-elect.

He stressed upon introducing a "new way of thinking" that favors technological innovation and accepting and experimenting with blockchain-based assets.

"We must open our schools to teach the technology, to teach this new way of thinking," Adams said in the interview.

Jason Furman, the former Chairman of President Barack Obama's CEA, commented on Adams' decision of taking the first three paychecks in Bitcoin on his Twitter account, claiming it to be "a bad economic strategy for NYC and a bad investment decision."

"Like a Mayor announcing 'I'm buying a lot of Amazon stock and then going to put in places policies to benefit Amazon,'" said Furman in his tweet.

When questioned about the comments made by Furman, Adams said "I'm using my personal money." He further cited an incident when he lost 'thousands of dollars' from his retirement fund in the stock market crash.

"Volatility is the part of some of the investments that we make," Adams said. "So he has his analysis, and I have my analysis. I wanted to make sure that this city becomes the center of innovation.