New NYC Mayor Eric Adams Wants the City To Have Its Own Cryptocurrency (vice.com) 59
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Former police officer, vegan, and mayor-elect of New York City Eric Adams has dreams of putting the Big Apple on the blockchain. In an interview with Bloomberg Radio on Wednesday, Adams bragged that he would finally transform the city into one hospitable to cryptocurrency. "We need to look at what's preventing the growth of bitcoins and cryptocurrency in our city," Adams told Bloomberg on Wednesday. He pointed to Miami, which has recently attempted to attract the cryptocurrency industry to the city, teasing a "friendly competition" on the horizon. "He has a MiamiCoin that is doing very well -- we're going to look in the direction to carry that out."
Adams has been promising to do this since he was a candidate last year, vowing to make the city a hub of all things crypto. "I'm going to promise you in one year, you're going to see a different city," he said at one event last June. "We're going to bring businesses here. We're going to become the center of life science, the center of cybersecurity, the center of self-driving cars and drones, the center of bitcoins, the center of all the technology," It's still not clear what that actually means or would entail. This may mean contending with the state's cryptocurrency regulations -- namely the Bitlicense. Introduced in 2015, the Bitlicense is a requirement for any entity that wants to carry out cryptocurrency-related transactions.
Adams has been promising to do this since he was a candidate last year, vowing to make the city a hub of all things crypto. "I'm going to promise you in one year, you're going to see a different city," he said at one event last June. "We're going to bring businesses here. We're going to become the center of life science, the center of cybersecurity, the center of self-driving cars and drones, the center of bitcoins, the center of all the technology," It's still not clear what that actually means or would entail. This may mean contending with the state's cryptocurrency regulations -- namely the Bitlicense. Introduced in 2015, the Bitlicense is a requirement for any entity that wants to carry out cryptocurrency-related transactions.
A Yanglike Gimmick (Score:5, Insightful)
We don't need a mayor enamored of gimmicks. This is why we rejected Yang. Adams should find other things to focus on; BdB spent a lot of credibility on his inefficient ferry vanity project.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think you understand what money laundering means. And given the options on the table, Adams was a pretty decent choice. I don't regret my vote.
Re: NYC krypto kriminal koin (Score:2)
Kind of ironic that Democrats have been shouting to defund the police, only for the most democratic leaning city in the US to elect a guy that not only supports increased police presence, but also wants to bring back stop-and-frisk.
Though at least anecdotally, it seems that mostly white democrats are the ones asking to reduce police presence, considering that:
- Eric Adams received the least support from mostly white and low crime areas like Manhattan, and the most support from high crime and mostly black ar
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That's the progressives pushing that. Not the liberals. We may both be factions on the left, but we don't want the same things. The right has its own factions.
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We don't need a mayor enamored of gimmicks.
When all you're actual problems are intractable go out and make fresh new problems.
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Bah... he should just team up with Elon Musk and put New York City on the Dogecoin payment standard. Many would say that the city has gone to the dogs already, might as well have the cryptocurrency to go with it!
New York City... much city, very wow!
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We don't need a mayor enamored of gimmicks. This is why we rejected Yang.
Yang wouldn't have promoted anything this fatuous. New York having its own cryptocurrency would mean that the city would have to manage its money supply somehow, which would mean starting up its own version of the Federal Reserve. Or, it could limit money supply mathematically as Bitcoin does, which would make the currency another fake "investment" to be watched for abuses.
In either case, the upside for the city would be pulling away a good part of the money laundering and ransomware business from Russia an
If he uses any more word salad (Score:5, Funny)
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Anybody wanting "all the technology" is too stupid to understand any of the technology. That was a string of buzzwords though. Bravo for the marketing department.
What's old is new (Score:2)
This is the whole reason national currency exists (Score:5, Insightful)
NY doesn't care about the US Constitution (Score:1)
"No state shall coin money, emit bills of credit, or make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. ~ Art. I, sec. 10, cl. 1."
How is MiamiCoin legal?
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"No state shall coin money, emit bills of credit, or make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. ~ Art. I, sec. 10, cl. 1."
How is MiamiCoin legal?
Its not money, nor is it legal tender. You can't be forced to accept it. Its basically a barter transaction, equivalent to a farmer paying the country doctor with a couple of chickens. Its the doctor's choice.
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You'd have to ask the judge, but Miami is not a state.
Re: NY doesn't care about the US Constitution (Score:1)
Bitcoin and most other cryptocoins is similar to coins of gold and silver which is allowed in the constitution for states to produce as legal tender. Bitcoin isnâ(TM)t a credit system so it is not a bill of credit. If theyâ(TM)re using an established coin as a backing system, then theyâ(TM)re not minting the coin either.
And you get a cryptocurrency (Score:3)
And you! and you! and you! get a cryptocurrency!
Let's keep creating cryptocurrencies.
what an idiot (Score:1)
Modern version of the company coin and store (Score:4, Insightful)
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So long story short youve got your own currency like any other country. So now youve created your own country economically. So what? I see a massive stifling of innovation. What if there comes a point where i can refactor my businesses cost model to utilize autonomous robotics? And i dont mean to replace humans. Same humans, even more humans plus robots doing 100x? But the city doesnt produce robots. But im sitting on a pile of worthless NYC coin?
Ar
The greatest evil of all - avoiding taxes (Score:2)
Hahaha and this got an insightful score 4?? LOL. So long story short youve got your own currency like any other country.
Nope. Its not a currency, it is not legal tender. Only the federal government can issue that.
So now youve created your own country economically. So what? I see a massive stifling of innovation.
That's the point, or more accurately, control. Consider the days of these company coins, the point was to create a kind of serfdom that increased the barriers for workers to seek a different job. Today, these city coins are likely a bit less ambitious and are designed to go after the underground economy. Since the underground economy is committing the greatest evil of all. Not the sale of illegal goods or services,
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You issue a card and put money on it. The card only works in approved "stores". You send the "Store" the swipe equipment.
Macys already does this.
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when you flatline your town becomes a ghost town for a long f****ing time.
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when you mess around with elicate economic models with these play toys so you can get points in the public eye and it fails its not like getting up off the mat from ZERO is as agile as moving from 100 to 120. when you flatline your town becomes a ghost town for a long f****ing time.
Local tokens did not destroy cities. For example they were quite common for public transport. From NYC to SF to Honolulu and many cities in between.
If its limited to city payments like welfare its also likely not to be a fatal problem.
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You know with blockchain everyone has to have a copy of the database right? Are the citizens buying and selling coin? What happens when they want out to jump onto Miami coin? Flatline.
Central control a feature to government (Score:2)
So this is just an accounting mechanism? LOL. You know with blockchain everyone has to have a copy of the database right? Are the citizens buying and selling coin? What happens when they want out to jump onto Miami coin? Flatline.
There is no requirement for a digital token to be blockchain based. There can be a central authority, in this case the city. I believe the digital Yuan in China is currently centralized and controlled by the central bank.
A blockchain is just a mechanism to avoid central control. Governments don't see central control as a problem, to them it is a feature.
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But they already have this. Its called a gift card. Macys puts money on the card, and i can only use the card at Macys lol.
my god. over engineering
The next financial bubble (Score:3)
It is clear by now that crypto is the next financial bubble and when it pops, the 2008 financial crisis will seem like a benign comical event.
Re:The next financial bubble (Score:4, Interesting)
crypto is the next financial bubble and when it pops, the 2008 financial crisis will seem like a benign comical event.
No, because unlike in 2008, crypto currencies:
A) Don't make you lose your house if they become valueless.
B) Aren't interconnected (if it goes down, it means people lost money, but not their creditors).
C) Aren't leveraged to a ridiculous amount (of course, Tether is an exception, but that only affects Tether company. If Tether's approach becomes more common, that is when you start worrying).
To put it another way, the total value of all cryptocoins is something less than $3trillion [coinmarketcap.com]. In contrast, there are $80 trillion dollars [businessinsider.com]. So even if you imagine the worst possible case and all those crypto-coins just disappeared, that would be like a drop of ~3-4% of the world's dollars. A little painful, but not the end of the world.
We can also add that cryptocoins aren't spent very often (ie, monetary velocity seems low). They aren't getting bi-weekly paychecks of bitcoin and spending most of it. Therefore, for most people the loss of their cryptocoins would mean they would be doing the same economic activity as before, getting bi-weekly paychecks and spending most of it.
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Sounds good to me.
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Don't make you lose your house if they become valueless.
People lose their homes when they experience a loss of income and are unable to make their mortgage payments. On the other hand, if you own your home free and clear, it certainly sucks to discover your asset has lost equity, but fundamentally your situation remains unchanged (you still have a house, and can still live in it).
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A lot of people lost their homes in 2008, that's why I mentioned it.
Literally why? (Score:2)
What purpose and what constituency would this serve -- especially in lieu of other forms of physical currency and electronic transactions (debt, cc, etc...)?
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The purpose is for the new mayor to throw out a few techie buzzwords so he doesn't sound like a dinosaur.
Nothing beyond that, really.
To trace transactions (Score:2)
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Its basically a modern version of the company coin and company store.
And, historically, that has always worked out so well for the people... /sarcasm
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Debit and CC are too easily converted into untraceable cash.
They are not. They are clearly stated on your bank accounts balance sheet and/or your credit card bills.
Any judge having a reason to investigate you can simply issue a warrant so that the bank/credit card company hands over the balance sheets.
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Debit and CC are too easily converted into untraceable cash. They are not. They are clearly stated on your bank accounts balance sheet and/or your credit card bills. Any judge having a reason to investigate you can simply issue a warrant so that the bank/credit card company hands over the balance sheets.
No, showing you withdrew cash does not show where you spent cash. Unlike a digital token that will have every transfer logged.
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No, showing you withdrew cash does not show where you spent cash. Unlike a digital token that will have every transfer logged.
Correct.
And that was obviously not the point of the parents comment that debit/CC cards are "untraceable". Because in your example you are not paying with a debit/credit card: but with cash. Facepalm.
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No, showing you withdrew cash does not show where you spent cash. Unlike a digital token that will have every transfer logged. Correct.
And that was obviously not the point of the parents comment that debit/CC cards are "untraceable". Because in your example you are not paying with a debit/credit card: but with cash. Facepalm.
Traceability obviously referred to the cash not the debit/CC. Parse the sentence "Debit and CC are too easily converted into untraceable cash." The adjective "untraceable" is attached to "cash" not "Debit and CC".
The GP asked why a token rather than debit/CC. The traceability of cash is the answer.
A solution (Score:3)
Big Success (Score:3)
I cannot WAIT to purchase a PRC - Pizza Rat Coin!
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Pizza Rat is so passé. You need the Crab Rat [instagram.com] Coin.
I'm old enough to remember NYC's currency (Score:5, Interesting)
NYC used to have something like a complementary currency: transit tokens. They were physical coins, about the size of a quarter but brass or something. I went there and got a pocket full of them. It wasn't very convenient so I might left most of them in the room and only taken a few with me at each outing. It was great because it was one token for bus or Subway. Not sure if that was just Manhattan because I never took transit off the island; but I took it from one end to the other. Express train, everything. They always said they would change the tokens periodically when prices went up. Word was, old tokens still worked anyway. I didn't sell them back to anybody--I left some behind with a friend; but they probably traded at par value... or perhaps a discount if you were the kind of person who buys things off the back of a truck.
Anyway, transit tokens were hard money backed by a service. I'm given to understand that NYC uses a card now. It's the same idea though--electronic accounting backed by a service. I don't see how crypto from the city could be much better; but I've got an open mind. I guess if they issue limited editions of something to everybody who resides there it would cost the city almost nothing and potentially be a good deal for New Yorkers--until every podunk town on the planet starts doing the same thing. Then what? Maybe he should have done it yesterday. It'll be interesting to see how this works out.
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I didn't sell them back to anybody--I left some behind with a friend; but they probably traded at par value... or perhaps a discount if you were the kind of person who buys things off the back of a truck.
Back in the days of tokens, plenty of mom and pop stores would take them as currency at full value. In New Jersey, you could often use Garden State Parkway tokens the same way.
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In Italy pre-Euro there was "phone tokens" that were 200(?) lire and used as currency. They were supposed to be used to make phone calls on pay phones, but stores took them as cash, and even gave them out as change. One thing that did not take them were the machines that sold subway tokens, however, as most of this was learned by encountering people trying to exchange them with bystanders because they only had phone tokens and needed to buy a subway token.
This is all from my Parent's trip to Italy when I wa
Your Washington dollars... (Score:2)
It's to capture all tax revenue... (Score:2)
It's still not clear what that actually means or would entail. This may mean contending with the state's cryptocurrency regulations -- namely the Bitlicense. Introduced in 2015, the Bitlicense is a requirement for any entity that wants to carry out cryptocurrency-related transactions.
He just wants to be guaranteed the ability to track all the money you're receiving/spending, so that the city can apply all applicable taxes to everything you do. This is a move to maximize tax revenues, not make things simpler/cleaner/faster (well, other than for the tax revenue staff).
environment (Score:1)
it's so frustrating to see this whole crypto thing be as successful as it is with basically zero discussion of environmental impact at the high level.
a bitcoin seems like basically 'proof of harm'.
this seems fixable, but nobody big seems to give a hoot.
Re: environment (Score:1)
Easy fix: nuclear reactors.
Company scrip (Score:1)
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Yeah.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Gift cards. (Score:2)
You were saying? Dumbass.
Centralized Decentralized Transactions (Score:1)
Hey these Bitcoin thingy's are doing great, we need to make one of our own. Only we need total centralized control of everything, none of that decentralized out of control stuff.
To be fair, the computer world is tracking strongly back to the old Mainframe and Terminal structure, only it's now called Cloud and Apps where you lease time and software in the Cloud (Mainframe). (Adobe, Microsoft, Others).
What's old is new, and what's new will be assimilated!