Andrew Yang, the Democratic Party front-runner in the race to be New York's next mayor said he would transform New York City into "a hub for BTC and other cryptocurrencies" noting the city to be "the world's fiscal majuscule."

The former presidential candidate made the comment in a tweet earlier today which drew a flurry of mixed reactions, with some proclaiming it to exist a entrada-selling maneuver and others equating information technology to political suicide.

The near unifying reaction, however, was the demand that Yang use his powers, if elected, to cease the BitLicense, enacted by the New York Department of Financial Services. Meltem Demirors, CSO of digital avails management company CoinShares, suggested Yang would need to deal with bo loftier land taxes and the Bitlicense to make his plan a reality.

In a recent interview with Forbes, Miami mayor Francis Suarez discussed the possibility of paying city employees in Bitcoin to encourage cryptocurrency adoption in the area. Yang really floated a like idea in a Sept. 2019 interview, describing the benefits of a government-issued, digitally-based "social currency" which could exist exchanged 1:i with the U.S. dollar.

Yang is currently is leading the Autonomous field in popularity and proper noun recognition among voters according to contempo polling that saw him streets ahead of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and City Comptroller Scott Stringer.

In sharp contrast to nearly of his political peers, Yang has vocalized his support for Bitcoin several times in the two years he has been on the mainstream media's radar. His outspoken beliefs have earned him the title of "Best President for Bitcoin" from some in the cryptocurrency community.

New York has a tumultuous relationship with Bitcoin. The introduction of the BitLicense in 2015 was initially regarded every bit something of a disaster, potentially stifling the innovation of fintech by imposing draconian restrictions on cryptocurrency utilise. By 2020, however, the fruits of regulation were paying off with the regulatory clarity under the Bitlicense enabling corporate giants like PayPal, Gemini and Coinbase to concenter the deep pockets of Wall Street.

In 2019, during the lead up to his presidential run, Yang argued that congress lacks the bones knowledge required to enact effective cryptocurrency legislation, and that countries which are ahead of the U.S. in regulation will eventually "(dictate) the rules that we'll demand to follow once nosotros catch up."

Yang was reportedly on the brusque list of potential nominees to fill the Secretary of Commerce position under the Biden administration. Receiving just 0.45% of the vote in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary, Yang dropped out of the race on Feb. 11 2020, endorsing Biden the following calendar month. In January he announced he was running for Mayor of New York.