New York Mayor-Elect Eric Adams recently won the mayoral race for the city. On November 3rd, Adams became the second black man to be elected as mayor in the city of New York. The win was momentous in itself but Adams’s comments and stance on cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, in particular, have been what has pushed him into the limelight in recent days.

The mayor-elect had made the news days after his election when he said that he planned to receive his first three paychecks in bitcoin. This was in response to Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez’s comment that he was going to receive a paycheck in bitcoin.

Related Reading | New York Mayor-Elect Will Take Bitcoin For First Three Paychecks

Adams has always been open with residents about his plans for the city when it comes to crypto. According to the mayor, he was working towards making New York the crypto hub of the nation, and now, the mayor-elect has revealed another approach to helping residents become more literate when it comes to cryptocurrencies.

Teaching Cryptocurrencies In Schools

Mayor-elect Adams was on CNN’s “State of the Union” to talk about his plans for the future. Adams is yet to be sworn into office and it’s likely that this will take place in 2022. However, this has not stopped the mayor from taking action on policy changes.

The mayor told CNN that he was usually stopped by young people who asked him what bitcoin and blockchain technology was. Adams saw this as a problem bred out of a lack of education and put forward that it was time that schools started teaching about cryptocurrencies in schools. “That’s what we must do, open our schools to teach the technology and teach this new way of thinking.”

Teaching cryptocurrencies in schools is not a novel idea. A number of high schools and colleges have added cryptocurrency classes into their curriculums to help educate the young generation about the space and the technology behind it. Although what the crypto-friendly mayor Adams is proposing is on a much wider scale. Basically that cryptocurrencies should be taught in all schools.

Crypto market cap surges past $2.8 trillion | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingView.com

Putting New York At The Forefront

One of Adams’s goals for the city going forward is to make it a strong contender for Miami, which is currently one of the most crypto-friendly states in the nation. Mayor Suarez has successfully attracted a number of miners and blockchain businesses to the city through crypto-friendly laws and Mayor Adams wants to do the same. For Adams, cryptocurrencies are the future and New York needs to get on the train.

Related Reading | The Fractal That Puts Bitcoin At $100,000 Before Year-End

The Democrat also talked to CNN about the possibility of accepting bitcoin payments in the city. Although the mayor-elect did not definitively say that the city would begin implementing crypto payments, he explained that the option would be explored. “We are going to look at it, and we are going to tread carefully. We are going to get it right,” said Adams.

Featured image from New York Post, chart from TradingView.com

The latest development in El Salvador’s Bitcoin Legal Tender saw the President, Nayib Bukele retweet several threads by the Press Secretary of the Presidency’s Twitter account, announcing that any profits from the purchase of Bitcoin will be put towards building 20 schools and a veterinary hospital. Furthermore, he also announced that the hospital will generate employment by hiring 300 Salvadorans who will work there, adding that the jobs will be well-paid.

“I want to announce that with a few million that we have left from the profits of Bitcoin we are going to build the first 20 schools Bitcoin, fully equipped and modern…This hospital is being made with the profit from the purchase of Bitcoin…In addition, this veterinary hospital is going to hire 300 Salvadorans who will work here, and who will have a decent and well-paid job.”, quotes from multiple threads from the Press Secretary of the Presidency’s Twitter account.

El Salvador President mocks the Opposition Yet Again

In Addition to announcing upcoming projects, the President also unloaded on the opposition for discouraging the government regarding its Bitcoin Legal Tender. After every announcement, President Bukele would mock the opposition Party’s former efforts at bringing down the implementation of Bitcoin law in the country. He further emphasized that none of the developments would have been possible if the government had not fought against the substantial criticism and backlash from the opposition.

“The funny thing is that the opposition was against the Bitcoin Law and the purchase of Bitcoin  Thank God we did not pay attention to them and the profits that they did not want to exist will benefit many animals…Now we are seeing additional benefits, the schools that we have announced, and God willing, more works will come that come from the profits of a Trust that was created and a Law that was created because we ignored the opposition”

Earlier this year, during the month of June, President Bukele had already hit back at the opposition for harsh criticism about the Bitcoin law. He argued that the Bitcoin bill was passed by Congress after a thoroughly done democratic process. However, many in the opposition have tried to confuse the Salvadoran people about Bitcoin, “inventing falsehoods and trying to put fear where there is no problem”.