Adams’ use of his public oice to promote the
crypto industry drew criticism from at least
one upstate New York environmental group,
Seneca Lake Guardian, which noted that creating
and managing cryptocurrency can consume
enormous amounts of energy, often produced by
power plants that contribute to climate change.
“Mayor Adams is dead wrong and his ignorance
could cost New Yorkers millions of dollars in
energy bills while killing local economies,
poisoning our water and illing our air with
deadly C02 emissions,” the group said in
a statement.
State Attorney General Letitia James has
investigated cryptocurrency trading platforms
and warned last year that investors “should
proceed with extreme caution when investing in
virtual currencies.”
“Cryptocurrencies are high-risk, unstable
investments that could result in devastating
losses just as quickly as they can provide gains,”
James said.
Adams has suggested that cryptocurrency and
blockchain technology, a digital ledger where
cybercurrency transactions are recorded, should
be taught in schools.
Cryptocurrency is a type of digital money
that uses encryption technology to track
transactions. They don’t have a country’s
government backing them, a central bank,
interest rates, or a long history of exchange
rates against other currencies. That can make it
diicult to assess their value.
Investors rely on market-driven changes in the
value of cryptocurrency to make a proit.