As one of the leading crypto currencies, Bitcoin, has recently seen a significant spike in its value. The digital currency is not only solidifying its financial potential but also the role New York City will play in its monetary rise.
According to dozens of crypto experts, NYC is reportedly expected to become the epicenter of the industry.
This is especially pertinent as Bitcoin just blew past $70,000 for the first time, achieving a notable recovery from the plunge in value it experienced last year.
The new money being poured into Bitcoin can be attributed in part to the Security and Exchange Commission’s January approval of ETFs, an investment vehicle that is similar to a mutual fund that trades on traditional exchanges such as stocks or gold, which has given customers at 11 investment management giants like Fidelity and BlackRock access to Bitcoin.
In turn, the high Bitcoin exhibited this past week was an exponential increase from January 2020, when it could be bought for as low as $7,000, along with the most recent drop it experienced which took the crypto currency’s value from $68,000 in November 2021 to below $17,000 as of January of last year.
Even before the ETFs were approved earlier in the year, venture capitalists, founders, and investors were marking territory in the city.
“Bitcoin is entering the world of traditional finance, and New York City is the capital of finance,” said investor Anthony Pompliano, an early crypto investor who has stuck with Bitcoin throughout its fluctuating history. “Bitcoin’s capital is now New York City.”
Pompliano, who has a considerable social media following, left NYC for Miami in 2020, but claims he returned last year because Manhattan remains the center of finance.
Though Miami’s mayor, Francis Suarez, said he wanted to make the city the “crypto capital of the United States or the world,” its digital currency MiamiCoin’s value has fallen 99% since 2021.
Also, the FTX Arena, which is home to the Miami Heat, was renamed the Kaseya Center in honor of a local software company after its one exceptionally successful crypto exchange company, FTX, went bankrupt and founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of scamming investors.
However, one point of concern among crypto investors is New York’s BitLicense, which firms need if they want to buy or sell digital currency in the state. Acquiring the license can cost more than $100,000, which presents a difficulty for many startups, and presents the possibility of an illegal back market of trading.
Yet, as massive Wall Street firms are putting billions into Bitcoin, the demand for it will concurrently spread, and NYC will be pushed toward the forefront of the industry’s growth.
