NYC battles Miami for 'crypto capital' crown

New York City has been making progress towards becoming the cryptocurrency financial capital as the race between the city and Miami heats up and as venture capital firms have been buying real estate in the Big Apple to expand their investment in the space. 

Some motivations to expand in New York City include its rich financial history, the prevalence of human capital as well as access to universities.

This as Miami has been pushing hard to attract cryptocurrency innovation to the city, in fact, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez dubbed Miami the crypto capital of the world.

"We want to be the most innovative city on the planet because we understand the future of high paying jobs in America is relying on creating innovation economy," Suarez told "Mornings with Maria" in September. 

The mayor of Miami said he will accept 100% of his salary in bitcoin, telling "Cavuto: Coast to Coast" in November, after he secured a second term, that the move will "send a message to the world that we are going to be one of the most innovative governments and innovative cities on the planet."

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has been a major advocate of growing the crypto space in the city, accepted his first paycheck in the form of ethereum and bitcoin.

"New York is the center of the world, and we want it to be the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations," Adams said in a statement in January, shortly after taking office. "Being on the forefront of such innovation will help us create jobs, improve our economy, and continue to be a magnet for talent from all over the globe."

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Last year, New York City attracted $6.5 billion in crypto startup funding last year, accounting for 46% of all U.S. funding to crypto-focused companies, Forbes reported, citing data from CB Insights, adding that Silicon Valley came in second with $3.9 billion in funding. Los Angeles and Miami reportedly both raked in $760 million.

Silicon Valley-based investment firm Andreessen Horowitz will more than quadruple its New York City office space, signing a long-term lease in December in SoHo for its crypto fund, the Real Deal reported,

"We believe that the next wave of computing innovation will be driven by crypto," the firm said in a news release in June when it announced it has raised a new $2.2 billion fund to continue investing in crypto networks.

Also in June, it was reportedly revealed that U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is setting up an office in New York City. A Coinbase spokesperson did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment regarding the motivation behind the expansion to the Big Apple. 

On Tuesday, FOX Business’ Lydia Hu reported on "Mornings with Maria" that "just as it seems that New York City is making progress there’s legislative action by the state that some say threatens development."

Bitcoin Foundation Chairman Brock Pierce weighed in as some state lawmakers are considering a two-year moratorium on crypto mining operations to curb New York's carbon footprint, arguing that the measure could deter business investments. 

Pierce said the proposed legislation is "at odds with what everyone else in the world is doing."

"Everyone is trying to attract crypto business," the cryptocurrency billionaire continued. 

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The bill that tries to place a two-year moratorium on certain types of proof-of-work crypto mining operations in New York is sitting in the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee and it decided not to consider the legislation during its last meeting of the session, CoinDesk reported on Friday, citing a schedule released that morning.

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FOX Business’ Breck Dumas contributed to this report.