Attendees to New York City’s first crypto summit beg Mayor Adams to end Bitlicense

Today, New York City held its first crypto summit.

The event was held at the mayor’s residence, Gracie Mansion, and was attended by prominent figures in the cryptocurrency industry, many of whom are based in New York.

During the event, Mayor Adams raised the pain he felt for the attendees and said they had been wrongly persecuted, claiming to speak out and build stores in New York for people in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry.

“Look at how they treat you,” Mayor Adams said.

He added: “You are like you are an enemy, not a believer.”

“You’ve been hiding in the shadows, scared to come out–come now.”

As Mayor Adams continues, he suggests New York being the “crypto-capital of the world”, and he first claims to be what he wants to do in 2021, although that hasn’t been much realised in that regard since then.

New York continues to be a jurisdiction for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency startups, which is the license required to operate digital asset companies in the state due to Bitlicense’s business.

It usually costs more than $100,000 to get a bitrin and it takes months (if not years) to cut the traditional tape festival and skip bureaucratic barriers to reach.

Most startups don’t have the time or funds to get one.

So when Mayor Adams and New York City’s CTO Matthew Fraser appointed attendees at today’s event and proposed solutions that would help make New York City more strictly friendly jurisdictions, many raised the need to abolish Bitlicense, or at least make the city immune contact.

New York City is a protected area for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency

“To build a thriving (crypto) economy, we have to get rid of Bitleson,” one participant said. “We need to at least build a regulatory sandbox in New York City.”

Another attendee argued: “New York City should be a sanctuary from Bitlicense.”

Following the discussion session of the roundtable, participants made such comments during which participants discussed different issues related to Bitcoin and crypto, and then shared suggestions with the dining table throughout the room. (Because attendees agree to the rules commemorating Chatham House, I cannot name the person who speaks on behalf of their group at the event. However, I can provide the names of the keynote speakers.)

Another participant said New York should be a “crypto-protected sanctuary” participants pointed out that there is a precedent because the city allows the cannabis industry to operate within its borders, while the rest of the state does not.

Nick Spanos established the first face-to-face exchange and the earliest face-to-face Bitcoin conference space in New York City in 2013, and also the case for New York as a crypto sanctuary city.

He said in a passionate tone: “We are providing shelter to immigrants – we can provide shelter for crypto companies.”

Spanos continues to criticize Bitlicense, questioning its legitimacy.

“What is the license for only 30 licenses after 12 years?!” Spanos cried. “That’s an internal license!”

It’s time to pass crypto legislation in New York State

Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz stressed that it is time for New York to pass legislation, which will benefit the cryptocurrency industry.

“After five years of hard years, DC said, let’s embrace the technology.” Novogratz said he hinted that New York should follow the idea of ​​federal leadership.

“New York State hasn’t made cryptocurrency easy – it took people a long time to get permission,” he added.

Novogratz also shared that the cryptocurrency industry is “ready to take off”, although he also proves himself by creating products that provide real value to users to prove himself.

His summary says that so far he has only really seen the value of Bitcoin and stablecoins.

Regarding the subject of Stablecoins, Tether’s co-founder Brock Pierce called on Albany (NY Capitol) to pass Bill 6266 and Senate Bill 3262, both of which would determine requirements for the establishment and operation of trust companies for limited purposes, if incorporated into the law. Such laws seem to play a role in making the train run in New York.

Other suggestions from participants regarding crypto applications

Many attendees also suggested creating crypto products to help provide financial services to approximately 305,000 residents without bank accounts in New York City (although there is no suggestion that Bitcoin is included in these services).

Many also highlighted the importance of “crypto and blockchain education” in the New York public school system.

Even Mayor Adams talked about this in his speech.

“Every young person in the Ministry of Education (Education Department) should understand blockchain and cryptocurrencies,” he said.

One attendee suggested using blockchain to protect the city’s public records.

(I suggest that the City consider simple evidence to address this idea, which the company leverages the Bitcoin scheme on the OpenTimestamps protocol to protect public documents, including election results, to help maintain its important documents.)

Call Action

Mayor Adams said the rest of the world would attract attention when his “mayor of the world’s greatest city” began talking about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

So he said he hopes the best and smartest people help him guide him when they come up with this topic.

At the end of the event, attendees were asked to share their notes so that Adams’ team could review them and could call on some attendees to help the mayor forge a more favorable regulatory path.

It seems his staff are helping, as Fraser asked attendees to “help the city relax the industry.”

Now, there is only time to see if Mayor Adams and his team will follow suit with the Bitcoin and crypto industry to make it easier for the company to do business in New York City, or he lost interest in such a program, as he did four years ago.