Key Takeaways:
- New York City Comptroller Brad Lander firmly rejected Mayor Eric Adams’s proposal to issue Bitcoin-backed municipal bonds.
- Lander warned that using volatile crypto assets to fund infrastructure and housing projects could undermine investor confidence in the city’s debt.
- Political tensions escalate as Lander (a mayoral candidate) positions himself as a fiscal pragmatist against Adams’s crypto-friendly agenda.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has rejected Mayor Eric Adams’s proposal to issue municipal bonds backed by Bitcoin, calling the idea both “legally dubious and fiscally irresponsible.”
Lander, who shares responsibility for the city’s debt issuance alongside the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, made clear that the city will not pursue any crypto-backed borrowing while he remains in office.
Bitbond Battle Brews in NYC as Election Rivals Clash Over Crypto Policy
Lander said in a statement on Thursday that “Cryptocurrencies are not sufficiently stable to finance our city’s infrastructure, affordable housing, or schools,” according to a report by Bloomberg.
He added, “Proposing that New York City should open its capital planning to crypto could expose our city to new risks and erode bond buyers’ trust in our city.”
The response follows remarks made by Mayor Adams on Wednesday during his speech at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas.
Addressing a crowd of crypto enthusiasts, Adams called for the creation of a “Bitbond,” expressing his intention to make New York a national leader in crypto innovation.
“We need to have a Bitbond, and I’m going to push and fight to get a Bitbond in New York,” Adams said. “If it grows in New York, it will cascade through the entire country.”
The mayor’s comments come just a week after he hosted the city’s first crypto and digital assets summit at Gracie Mansion. There, he unveiled a digital assets advisory council designed to boost fintech investment and job creation in the city.
But Lander pushed back hard on the idea. He pointed to legal and regulatory constraints that limit how municipal bonds can be issued and used. According to him, the city can only issue debt for specific public purposes and must do so in compliance with federal tax law.
“The current federal tax law regime would most likely neither permit tax-exempt financing for acquiring cryptocurrency nor permit investment gains in excess of the federally subsidized financing costs,” Lander said.
He also emphasized that the city does not have any system in place to handle infrastructure financing in cryptocurrencies or to convert digital assets into U.S. dollars.
Adams, who is seeking re-election this November as an independent, did not respond to requests for comment.
Lander, a Democrat and a candidate for mayor himself, made clear that under his watch, Bitcoin-backed bonds won’t be part of the city’s fiscal strategy.
With both candidates positioning themselves for November, the clash over crypto policy could become a defining issue in the race.
Mayor Echoes Trump’s Crypto Playbook Amid Growing Political Embrace of Digital Assets
Mayor Adams is doubling down on crypto as part of his re-election campaign, echoing Donald Trump’s strategy from last year when Trump vowed to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.”
Trump’s actions included issuing an executive order to create a digital asset task force and hosting the White House’s first crypto summit in March with top industry executives.
Adams, recently cleared of corruption charges by the DOJ, a move that sparked backlash and resignations, has now become a prominent face at crypto events.
In Las Vegas, he spoke at the industry’s largest conference alongside figures like VP J.D. Vance and Senator Cynthia Lummis. These events, once dominated by industry leaders, now increasingly feature political figures.
At a side event hosted by Tether co-founder Brock Pierce, Adams appeared again, showing a long-standing relationship dating back to his Brooklyn days. Last fall, Pierce even co-hosted a fundraiser for him in Puerto Rico.
Adams has championed crypto since his 2022 mayoral campaign, famously converting his first three paychecks into Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Now, NYC is forming a digital asset advisory council to explore launching a “Bitbond.”
A similar federal initiative, proposed by the Bitcoin Policy Institute, suggests bonds partly backed by Bitcoin for a potential strategic reserve.
