Transcript: Mayor Adams Participates in Fireside Chat at Tokenization and Programmable Real World Assets Injective Summit

June 26, 2025

Nina Bambysheva, Deputy Editor, Forbes: Hi, everyone. Give it up for Mayor Eric Adams. I hope everyone's having a great event. How are you doing?

Mayor Eric Adams: Good, good. How are you?

Bambysheva: Good, good. Well, we had a fun Tuesday night. How did you enjoy watching that?

Mayor Adams: That's right.

Bambysheva: So, back in 2021, you were the first mayor to take your first few paychecks in crypto. Have you held those tokens?

Mayor Adams: First, yes, I did. And being mayor of the largest city in the country and the financial capital of the country, the role is both substantive and symbolic. And taking my first three paychecks in Bitcoin was a clear symbolic message I was sending out. Because there's a lot of misnomers about digital assets. 

You know, whenever something happens wrong, they want to brush the entire industry. And so if the mayor of the City of New York is saying, hey, I'm taking my paychecks in it, it sent a message out to everyone, let's reexamine it. 
And then when I took it, everyone laughed at me. They wrote bad articles about me, they called me all sorts of names. And now when you look at what is worth, I'm laughing at them. And so it's a good way of making sure we evolve. And it was a great decision. I'm looking forward to the expansion of that.

Bambysheva: And the returns on those [Audio Drop].

Mayor Adams: Yes. 

Bambysheva: It's been four years already.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Bambysheva: How did you start with crypto in the first place? When did this fascination come from for you?

Mayor Adams: Brock Pierce. And I had dinner with him one day and he introduced me to the entire concept. And I just started to hear– you know, how the butterfly effect, you know, quantum physics talks about once you acknowledge something, you see the continuous existence of it. 

And once I heard it from Brock Pierce, my consciousness was, when I started being around people that talked about it, I learned more and more and more. And I realized that if we embrace this new way of saving and paying for goods and services and investment, there's some great opportunities in many ways. 

Like if you just look at here in New York, we have a large Caribbean diaspora. They send money back to their home islands or countries, and they're paying a great deal of money to the money transfer fees.

If we just show them how you can use digital assets to accomplish this task, we're talking about saving billions of dollars. And low-income New Yorkers who are not—they're paying taxes on the dollars that they earn. You shouldn't have to pay more taxes when you transfer it down to your loved ones.

Bambysheva: You learned from the OGs. I mean, Brock was one of the co-founders of Tether. That must have been a very good introduction to this fascinating world.

Mayor Adams: Hold on, where are you from?

Bambysheva: I am from Russia originally.

Mayor Adams: How do you know about OG?

Bambysheva: So you've long championed New York City to be the crypto capital of the world. In 2025, it really does feel like the center of gravity for the industry. Much of it thanks to the administration's embrace of the industry and the regulatory change that we are overseeing. But you think we can do more. 

So walk us through your vision. You talked about BitBonds. I'm curious how you think those can help the city and what else is in store.

Mayor Adams: I think there are several layers to accomplish what we want to accomplish. The first thing, we have to get rid of the BitLicense that was put in place about 10 years ago. It was used to demonize the industry. There were people who made the decision that really don't understand the industry. 

I want to tell those who want to embrace and make this the crypto capital of the globe, there's a role for those who are out here, those who are sitting in the audience. We have to empower ourselves politically. Many people say, “Listen, I'm just trying to do my investment. I'm trying to do my thing. I don't want to get into politics.” If you don't get into politics, politics is going to get into you. 

If you didn't learn anything from this last election, where this administration on a federal level is extremely crypto friendly. Because, I think, in the first 120 days, there were almost 60 pieces of legislation that we saw go through the House. We can do that here also. 

The BitLicense is a state issue. Those who are in this space, they must go up to Albany, lobby, get rid of the BitLicense the way it is, and then share their political know-how, knowing who their City Council person, state assembly person, state senator, congressperson, and lobby them to say, we want this city to be the crypto capital of the globe. 

I'm going to do my part here. We're going to look at how we can circumvent those elected officials who are not willing to embrace this technology or the evolution of how we pay for goods and services. But we're going to need the masses because politics come from the ground up. It doesn't start from the top down. 

When you see this fear, it's hard to believe that people don't realize we used to exchange goods and services using seashells. We went to coins, we went to dollar bills, we went to credit cards. Now my son tells me, you know, “Dad, just Cash App me.” So the evolution is here. No use fighting it. Embrace it.

Bambysheva: So you mentioned BitLicense, and I checked today, and there are only about 30-something companies in the state that have this license, and it has been very well known that New York has some of the most stringent requirements for crypto companies to come and register. But I think the major concern here is investor protection. 

So how can we balance those two things, make sure that the city and the state is a welcoming place for entrepreneurs in this space, but also that consumers and investors are feeling safe?

Mayor Adams: No, so true, because the industry will grow with safety. We have to have the right regulations in place without just really stymieing the growth. I mean, when you only have such a small number of BitLicenses, it's clear that this was put in place to stymie the industry. 

And you don't have to stymie the industry to regulate the industry. So some people say, well, you know, look what happened where billions of dollars were stolen. Yeah, well, billions of dollars are stolen in stocks. Billions of dollars are stolen in credit cards. So if people have larceny in their hearts, they're going to find a way to do something wrong. And industry should not die merely because those who abuse the industry. 

And so while you open industry up, we must make sure, on the federal and the state and the city level, that we put the right regulations in place. But it can't be regulations to kill the entire industry.

Bambysheva: And to guide your vision, you announced the creation of an advisory council. I'm curious if you've already begun those conversations, who you are talking to, and what would be the goals for that entity?

Mayor Adams: Very important, because what I've learned, because you are elected to office does not mean you have all the brilliance. You have to lean on people who understand their industries, bring them in, allow them to be part of the formation of what you are attempting to accomplish. 

I want to bring these smart men and women in the room who have been successful in the industry, they want to see the industry grow, and be a part of our council and say, what do we do to attract the industry to the city? What legislation we need to look at to change? What must we do to see it expand? 

And one important part that's crucial to me is that we have to expand the pool of people who are engaged. I want to go into my inner cities, I want our young people to learn at an early age what the industry is like. I want them to see how they don't have to be left behind. Often when you have these new innovative ways of doing things, we leave out a great deal and a great number of people and I don't want that to happen. 

We're going to incorporate this into our Department of Education, we're going to do real case studies, course studies, we're going to have curriculums that's going to be built around this. Nothing would give me greater joy than walking into one of our underserved communities and a young person walking to the school and buying a loaf of bread using Bitcoin.

Bambysheva: Awesome. And that leads into my next question. What else can be done by your office, by us as an industry, to ensure that New York City remains the global crypto hub beyond your leadership?

Mayor Adams: What you do in your time as mayor is not an indicator of how successful you are. It's what legacy you put in place for the remaining years to come. And so if we're able to properly put the foundation in place that companies will come here, grow and build, we will be able to produce jobs that our people could be gainfully employed. 

We have had more jobs in New York City in the city's history because of our openness to attract new businesses. So, if I'm able to create this city as being the crypto capital of the globe, that's a legacy to leave. 

My young people who are in intermediate or elementary school now will grow up to be employed by one of these companies. And that's important. Or even bringing this event here. This is a beautiful space. And the way you allow this space to be open is showing the attractiveness of the city. This is a great city. If you want to find your boo, you want to find it here.

Bambysheva: We do have a great crowd here. You have a busy few months ahead before the November elections. What would be your message to your constituents and the ones in this audience?

Mayor Adams: Yes. Lean into the future. The evolution is here. And we should not be afraid of it. Change is hard. I've witnessed that throughout my career, not only in government but just in life. And we should embrace change. 

Be conscious, have our eyes open to make sure that no one is attempting to do something that is harmful to our financial investments. But we need to be open to the change and embrace the change because change is coming.

Bambysheva: It is indeed. And lastly, what are you excited about in this space? What keeps your interest these days?

Mayor Adams: The possibilities of moving away from just antiquated systems. When you look at what blockchain can do, we can put our death certificates, our birth certificates. We could be able to put everything from your leases to your deeds of your home. We could cut down on fraud if it's on a blockchain. And then using cryptocurrency. 

You could pay for your taxes. You could pay your summonses, your water bills. To be able to pay for your utilities using your digital assets is crucial. So this innovation and this way that we are moving towards, there's some great possibilities. And I'm excited about those possibilities. 

And think about it for a moment. The transformation, as I was saying, from going from paying for goods and services and using seashells to the evolution to where we are now. We are in the midst of, I think, one of the greatest evolutions that mankind has ever witnessed. Not only how we use our currencies and our assets, but look at artificial intelligence. 

I mean, just to think [about] what is going to happen from year to year to year. And how we're going to bring people together. I'm just excited about what technology is going to do for us. 

Many people are afraid, oh my God, what is going to happen if we use it or not. People were afraid when planes went up in the sky. Now they're using them to go all crisscross the globe. I am looking forward to what technology is going to do, even in this space and all other spaces.

Bambysheva: What a time to be alive. Hope you all also got excited by the mayor's vision and excited for what the city will become and what this industry will do and how it will change the financial system and the way we transact and all that. Well, thank you so much, mayor. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. And if you're from out of the city visiting, all I ask of you is spend money. Spend a lot of money.

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