Candidate for Mayor Andrew Yang Plans to Make New York City a Bitcoin Hub

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is running for mayor of New York City. He has promised that as mayor he would invest in making the city “a hub for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.” Yang is also pro-universal basic income (UBI) and wants to launch “the largest basic income program in history.”

Andrew Yang Promises to Turn New York City Into a Bitcoin and Crypto Hub as Mayor

Entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is running for mayor of New York City. The Democratic primary is on June 22. He ran for U.S. president in the 2020 election before dropping out early last year.

Yang tweeted Thursday: “As mayor of NYC – the world’s financial capital – I could invest in making the city a hub for BTC and other cryptocurrencies.”

“I am running for mayor because I see a crisis – and I believe I can help,” Yang explained on his campaign website. The pro-bitcoin candidate moved to New York City 25 years ago.

Yang has long been a proponent of bitcoin. Early last year, he clarified his cryptocurrency policy while he was still in the running for President. He emphasized: “we need to have a uniform set of rules and regulations around cryptocurrency use nationwide because right now we’re stuck with this hodgepodge of state-by-state treatments … that would be my priority … just clear and transparent rules so that everyone knows where they can head in the future and that we can maintain competitiveness.”

Yang is also well known for his support of universal basic income (UBI). “We need to launch the largest basic income program in history, invest in a human-centered economy, return to fact-based governance, and create an accessible healthcare system,” he wrote on his campaign website. “We need to do all this while enacting accountable and smart policing, building affordable housing, closing our city’s digital divide, modernizing transportation and city services, and more.”

Meanwhile, another U.S. city is already on its way to becoming a bitcoin hub. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has recently gained support from the city commissioners to allow tax payments in bitcoin as well as making the cryptocurrency an acceptable currency for the city to potentially invest in and hold in its treasury reserves in the future.