On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced he would be taking his first paycheck in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), with the funds arriving Friday. The salary will not be directly paid out as crypto; instead, it will be first issued in fiat as U.S. dollars and then converted into the digital currencies on crypCoinbase.
Due to United States Department of Labor and various state-level regulations, resident U.S. employees typically cannot receive their remuneration directly in cryptocurrency. This is partly because the Internal Revenue Service classifies dollar wage payments as income, whereas items such as stock-based compensation or cryptocurrencies are classified as property.
Mayor Adams issued the following statement regarding his choice of remuneration:
“New York is the center of the world, and we want it to be the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations. Being at the forefront of such innovation will help us create jobs, improve our economy, and continue to be a magnet for talent from all over the globe.”
Matt Fraser, NYC’s chief technology officer, added:
“This step taken by the mayor provides a leading example of how we can empower people through tech with a more diverse set of options to manage their finances.”
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