On the eve of New York City's mayoral race on Tuesday, Democratic front runner Eric Adams has given a brief endorsement of the world's largest cryptocurrency.
"I'm going to promise you in one year ... you're going to see a different city," said Adams. "We're going to become the center of life science, the center of cybersecurity, the center of self driving cars, drones, the center of bitcoins."
Adams, who leads his party rivals in every borough across the city with the exception of Manhattan, has campaigned on promises to fight the city's crime and promote its economic prosperity. He has managed to unite vast swathes of Black and Latino voters.
Adams currently holds a lead of 75,000 votes ahead of his closest rival, Maya Wiley, according to a New York Times report on Wednesday.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, a longtime bitcoin proponent and cryptocurrency advocate, dropped out of the mayoral race in its earlier stages, acruing only 11.7% of total votes.
One of Adams' donors is an early crypto investor and former child actor Brock Pierce, who gave $2,000 to the front-runner's campaign in December, public records show. According to the New York City Campaign Finance Board, Pierce has given $10,000 to New York City politicians.
Update (May 24, 21:00 UTC): Added information about Brock Pierce's political donations.