Eric Adams quits mayoral race, spelling uncertainty for NYC’s crypto community

New York mayor Eric Adams announced via an X post on Sunday that he will be dropping out of the mayoral race and not contesting for re-election. Stating financial issues as the main reason for quitting the race, Adams revealed that the campaign finance board withheld funds, which prevented him from running the race. 

He was denied access to public matching funds in December 2024 in a ruling that stated he participated in conduct that was detrimental to the program, coupled with the fact that his team did not turn in the required documentation, according to City & State New York. 

Eric Adams was already grappling with significant obstacles to election

Prior to running the race, Adams already faced a medley of issues, including corruption charges that were dropped by the DOJ, bad approval ratings, and the challenges that come with running as an independent candidate. 

That leaves Republican incumbent Andrew Cuomo, democratic socialist frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, and Curtis Silwa. Eric Adams was considered a pro-crypto figure, with him making keynote speeches about Bitcoin and various initiatives intended to improve digital asset adoption in the U.S.A. 

With him out of the race, the current line-up of candidates does not have a strong stance on cryptocurrency, especially Zohran Mamdani, who has still not made any concrete remarks for or against digital assets. Instead, he strongly advocates for socialist initiatives such as rent freezes in NYC, grocery stores with affordable pricing, and a 0-cost childcare program, as per the proposals listed on his official website.  

Eric Adams will still serve the remainder of his term until January 1st, 2026, after which the mayor-elect will take over.