New York mayor-elect opines crypto be taught in schools
The Mayor-Elect of New York, Eric Adams, has asserted that the city’s schools should now incorporate cryptocurrency lessons into their curricula in what seems to be Adams’ doubling down on his pro-crypto views.
At a November 7 interview with State of the Union on CNN, Adams had described cryptocurrencies as a new way of payment for goods and services throughout the world, urging locals of the city to equip themselves, especially students with “the new way of thinking” ushered by blockchain technology and digital assets.
The 61-year-old Democrat further said he had an anecdote where he witnessed low awareness of crypto among the youth in his constituency, citing that when he talked about blockchain and Bitcoins once on the streets, “young people” stopped to ask him, “What is that?”
Adams also signalled at potential plans of encouraging business organizations in New York to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment option, adding that he would “tread carefully” and “get it right.”
When asked about his stance on including cryptocurrency studies in schools, Adams remarked that New York is, and must remain, a “centre of innovation, no matter what that innovation is.” His comments received mixed reactions on the social media of locals.
One with username “nimadows” said that crypto studies “must” be essentially incorporated into the city’s school curricula, stressing that new investors need to be equipped with “an open mind and sufficient knowledge” before going out into the digital asset markets.
Another user, “InnocenceCapit1”, outright criticized the new mayor’s opinion, stating that cryptocurrencies are “speculative garbage” and that schools must be more focused on “successfully teach[ing] math, history, science, language and actual financial concepts first.”
Jason Furman’s criticism of Adams was invoked by aTwitter user “OnlyAPrimate”, who described the mayor-elect’s support for digital assets as “kind of grifty” given the mayor’s decision that his first three paychecks would be done in Bitcoins. Furman is a Harvard-based economist who had recently made headlines for criticizing Adams’ crypto view.
The user “OnlyAPrimate” posted on Twitter that they like Eric Adams but “don’t think his job description is pumping up a crypto-currency” that he is supposed to get paid in.
Eric Adams’ major policy platform includes transforming New York into United States’ “crypto hub.” He also reiterated in a Bloomberg Radio interview lately that he has plans of exploring the setup of a city-based crypto coin for New York, similar to the MiamiCoin.
If New York’s administration takes Adam’s crypto curriculum seriously, New York won’t be the first city in the US to do so. In March 2021, Georgia’s House of Representatives had passed a bill for implementing a financial literacy program including crypto as a part of state education in high schools.
