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Independent New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo has said he wants to make the Big Apple “the world capital” for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Cuomo announced on Sunday that his administration would have a chief innovation officer to ensure New York’s leadership across emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and biotech, by attracting investment and helping the city’s government harness these technologies to improve services.
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The chief innovation officer would work to establish New York as “the world capital for digital finance and decentralized innovation,” Cuomo said. According to the statement, part of this work would include proposing regulatory changes to protect consumers and support innovation.
“The next Mayor must make sure we’re also leading in the technologies that will define the next century — AI, blockchain, and biotech,” Cuomo said. “That’s what this position is about: Keeping New York City not just competitive, but dominant in the global innovation economy.”
Cuomo said the chief innovation officer position would be filled based on the recommendation of an Innovation Council that would be composed of leaders from the identified emerging tech sectors. The council would advise the innovation chief, he added.
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Cuomo’s announcement in support of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology comes weeks after pro-cryptocurrency incumbent Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race.
While Cuomo was governor in 2019, the state established a task force to evaluate how New York could regulate and use cryptocurrencies. After resigning amid sexual harassment allegations in 2021, he advised offshore cryptocurrency exchange OKX on how to deal with a probe by the FBI and the Southern District of New York prosecutors, Bloomberg reported in April. OKX in February pled guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws and agreed to pay nearly $505 million in penalties.
It has become increasingly popular for candidates to back the cryptocurrency industry after the 2024 presidential election, which saw Donald Trump win on a pro-cryptocurrency platform backed by millions in donations from the industry.