Eric Adams stated he plans to “take my first three paychecks” in bitcoin as soon as he begins his new job as New York Metropolis’s mayor in January, upstaging his counterpart in Miami and even some CEOs who run cryptocurrency corporations.
Two days after successful the mayoral race, the Brooklyn Democrat used Twitter to announce how he will probably be paid initially as a public servant. Adams tweeted his three-paycheck crypto gambit after studying a tweet from Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who stated he plans to just accept one paycheck in bitcoin.
“NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries,” Adams tweeted.
Whether or not it is one paycheck or three, what Adams and Suarez are personally betting on a extremely risky cryptocurrency is greater than many enterprise leaders in the crypto house are doing.
Jason Les, CEO of bitcoin mining firm Riot Blockchain, accepts a part of his $240,000 salary in 10 bitcoin, marking him one among few crypto executives who eat their very own firm’s cooking by getting paid in digital currencies slightly than old school bucks.
Coinbase is without doubt one of the nation’s largest publicly traded crypto platforms, but its newest government pay paperwork don’t present CEO Brian Armstrong accepting any of his $60 million in complete 2020 compensation in crypto. Coinbase offers Armstrong and different firm executives an choice of accepting some wage in crypto property, however there is no documentation that he opted in. Coinbase didn’t reply to a request for remark Thursday.
Likewise, Fred Thiel, CEO of bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital, doesn’t settle for his $500,000 government compensation in any cryptocurrency, nor does the corporate’s chairman and former CEO, Merrick Okamoto, who made $368,715 final 12 months. An organization spokesman confirmed these particulars with CBS MoneyWatch on Thursday.
The New York and Miami mayors technically must take their paycheck in {dollars} after which purchase bitcoin on the day’s market charge, utilizing digital platforms just like the Money app or Coinbase. Adams may even simply stroll a couple of steps from Metropolis Corridor and use a bitcoin ATM on 12 John Road.
The 2 mayors be a part of a small group of well-known People who commit a portion of their pay to crypto. Inexperienced Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers stated Monday he believes in bitcoin and can take a few of his NFL pay in bitcoin.
“Bitcoin is a new concept and it can be intimidating,” Rodgers stated through Twitter, talking as a pitchman for the Money app. Rodgers additionally stated he plans to provide away $1 million value of bitcoin to his followers through the Money app.
Bitcoin and different digital currencies have been on the heart of lots of this 12 months’s wildest monetary beneficial properties and losses. Though thought of a extremely unstable type of cash by most monetary specialists, bitcoin reached new highs earlier this 12 months, in half as a result of extra corporations are accepting it as a type of cost.
Bitcoin has been trading at round $60,000 this week. At that worth, Adams, who will earn round $260,000 yearly as mayor, would want to show his first six paychecks into crypto to purchase only one bitcoin, assuming a fortnightly pay schedule.
Cryptocurrencies ethereum and dogecoin also hit record-high costs earlier this 12 months, whereas celebrities together with Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Kanye West and others have thrown their names behind digital currencies of their liking.
As its recognition rises, cryptocurrency has been the goal of many multi-million greenback scams in latest historical past. Between January and July, crypto accounted for $681 million in rip-off losses, in accordance with a report from cryptocurrency intelligence agency CipherTrace.