NYC’s ‘Crypto Mayor’ Eric Adams Demolishes BitLicense: ‘Time to Ditch the Red Tape’
New York’s pro-crypto mayor just took a sledgehammer to the state’s controversial BitLicense regime. Eric Adams—a Bitcoin bull who once took his paycheck in digital assets—is pushing to scrap the 2015 framework that critics say strangled innovation while letting Wall Street off the hook (as usual).
The move could finally level the playing field for crypto startups battling New York’s notorious ‘regulation by enforcement’ approach. But don’t hold your breath—this is the same state that took eight years to approve a single greenlisted coin.
Adams’ play? Replace BitLicense with ‘common-sense rules’ that don’t force crypto firms to jump through more hoops than traditional banks. One insider quipped: ‘Finally, someone who gets that blockchain doesn’t fit in a 20th-century regulatory box.’
Wall Street won’t like this. Albany’s revolving-door lobbyists will fight it. But for an industry that’s been bleeding talent to Miami and Dubai, this could be the lifeline New York’s crypto scene needs—assuming the bureaucracy doesn’t ‘accidentally’ lose the paperwork.
