00:00Good morning everyone. My name is Matt Fraser. I'm the Chief Technology Officer for New York City.
00:05Welcome to Gracie Mansion. Today we're here to talk about something that's very important and
00:11something that's going to change the landscape of the modern technology era. If you look throughout
00:15modern history, New York City has long been home for the fintech capital, financial related
00:20technologies, for the longest time. And over the past decade we've seen a lot of innovations across
00:26the space. One of the most notable has become in the digital assets place including crypto
00:31and blockchain. And today we're here to talk about an event that's coming that we'll be
00:36using to coordinate that conversation between industry and not only just industry but across
00:41government and many other spectrums to make sure that New York City is prepared for what's
00:45coming in the future. But there's no one better to talk about that than the Honorable Mayor,
00:49Eric Adams. Thanks so much, Matt. And really, really
00:54excited about this important moment. And not only in technology, but how we go about changing
01:06the way we exchange goods and services. And technology in New York City is one of New York City's fastest
01:15growing industries. And we're in the midst of nothing short of a technological revolution. The age
01:23of tokenization, which includes crypto, blockchain, and other fintech innovations. It's not the future,
01:33it is here, and it's here now. And it's here now. And when it comes to immense opportunities to grow
01:41our economy, it's New York. Boy, this is pollen season, you know?
01:47We're going to attract world-class talent, provide opportunities for
01:54underbanked communities, and make government more user-friendly. And I really want to emphasize
02:00on underbanked communities. Because of this new form of financing and finance is something that can impact those communities that have historically found themselves lacking in access to banks,
02:07and access to ways to save their resources in dollars.
02:23My goal remains the same as it was on day one as mayor, making New York City the crypto capital of the globe.
02:32And as you remember, I supported crypto long before any of my mayoral peers.
02:37I was the first American mayor to have my initial three paychecks converted into crypto way back in 2022.
02:46Many people laughed at me, and the only I can say is who's laughing now.
02:50We're seeing how this industry is growing. And since then, the number of crypto and blockchain startups that have made New York City home has skyrocketed.
03:01Today, we outrank Silicon Valley and the exciting things that we're doing, they have just gotten started, and we're looking forward to continue the partnership.
03:15And I'm excited to be joined by June Oh, who is the co-founder of Figure Fern and Richie Hector, the CEO of Traction and Scale, both notable and respected individuals in this space.
03:33They're joining our world-class roster of crypto talent and resources in New York City.
03:39We're going to work with our tech companies from startups to global giants to create a friendly environment that helps them succeed here in the city of New York.
03:52In our first ever New York City Crypto Summit on May 20th at Gracie Mansion here, it will demonstrate our strong commitment to leadership and, most importantly, partnership.
04:03The summit will bring together crypto innovators and influencers to share insights and experiences that they will use to chart our path forward.
04:17Bringing together all of these great minds and coordinations, hearing from our keynote speakers, and just really a cross-pollination.
04:26Cross-pollination of ideas and methods that we will use to move this industry in the right direction.
04:40Both in terms of economic development and opportunities to serve the public using digital assets.
04:48We are focused on the long-term values of these technologies for our city and its people.
04:54We are not chasing memes or trends, which is why we are bringing together leaders from across the industry to help advise us on our next steps and how we move in the right direction.
05:07More on that to come following the summit.
05:10For now, I want to reiterate, if you're in the crypto, blockchain, Web3, or the fintech space, New York City is open for business.
05:21Join us.
05:22Join us.
05:23There's no place like New York, and we're going to show that in this amazing summit that is going to take place on May 20th.
05:30CTO?
05:31Thank you, sir.
05:34So, as the mayor mentioned, the opportunity and the benefits of leveraging these types of technologies go far beyond just the financial space.
05:41The opportunity to democratize access to vital records, things like birth and death records, to be able to access information at scale securely.
05:50Blockchain and crypto provides us a foundation where we can involve these things.
05:54But the summit that we're going to have is focused not just on the current use cases, but the future of what it could look like.
06:01But nowhere is better to get started than the foundation of where this all started around crypto.
06:07So, it's my pleasure to introduce Juneau.
06:09Juneau.
06:10Juneau.
06:11Hi.
06:12My name is Juneau.
06:15I'm co-founder of a couple of companies.
06:18After building two multi-billion dollar companies in fintech and crypto, there is, without question, no competitor for New York City.
06:27Figure, my newest company, chose to build New York City.
06:31Our C-suite is in the New York City office, and we are now expanding our footprint.
06:38Figure brings the entire business full cycle to blockchain, which includes origination, sale, warehousing, securitization, and trading.
06:47All true assets with value on blockchain and continually innovates, including creating a TBA marketplace that's a perfect platform for New York institutions.
06:58In just a few months, we've originated 10 million in New York State with growing volume.
07:02New York City is undoubtedly the right place for blockchain and fintech companies looking to make significant impact on the blockchain and crypto industry.
07:13We look forward to driving the future of capital markets on blockchain while based in New York City.
07:20Thank you, June.
07:24I'd like to also introduce Richie Hecker, the CEO of Traction and Scale.
07:31Thank you, Matt.
07:32My name is Richie Hecker, the CEO of Traction and Scale and a partner of the upcoming Crypto Summit here in New York City.
07:39People used to think Silicon Valley as the center of the tech universe.
07:42Well, maybe.
07:44They were right.
07:45But New York City is the center of the actual universe.
07:49Under the mayor's bold leadership, we are focused on building New York City to become the center for financial innovation.
07:55We have already spoken to many companies who are moving their headquarters and expanding their footprint in New York City.
08:01It takes strong leadership to inspire startups to choose a city to become home.
08:06And under Mayor Adams' strong leadership, the world is now jumping back to New York.
08:13For example, Hyla, an asset manager with over $100 million under management, has agreed to open its new offices in New York City.
08:22Hyla aims to deploy as much of its funds as possible in New York City fund managers.
08:27Specifically to New York, Hyla is led by the former CIO of the New York State Senate, who left the city.
08:36And asked me to share that he is relieved and excited that the city is now supporting FinTech and is thrilled to come back home.
08:44He even noted that no other city is worth considering now that New York is back in the game.
08:49This is all thanks to the mayor's bold actions.
08:52He is bringing the momentum that is paving the way for traction and scale to partner with government and develop private partnerships.
08:59This month's summit will focus on policy, bringing together the leading experts in crypto, FinTech, and financial markets.
09:06We look forward to working together to develop brilliant ideas that will solidify New York City as the crypto capital of the world.
09:14It already is the financial capital of the world.
09:17We chose New York City because of Mayor Eric Adams' firm commitment to leading the world in financial innovation,
09:23and we are excited to lend our deep engineering talent to the cause.
09:27Thank you very much, and I'll see you at the summit.
09:34Get a few on topics.
09:36Cheyenne from Coindesk.
09:39How do you feel about New York DFS's regulation of the crypto industry here,
09:43and do you think that their reputation as a tough crypto regulator is helping or hurting your goal to make New York a crypto public?
09:50That's a great question because it's almost a, when I'm hearing from the industry,
09:56one, it is good to know that the city is going to have safe regulations in place for those who are investing,
10:05and there's not going to be any abuses, but at the same time we can't over-regulate that we will prevent growth.
10:13And I think that our state must embrace the crypto-friendly, blockchain-friendly environment that we have here in New York City.
10:23And there are a few state lawmakers, like the Assemblyman Vanell, or Clyde Vanell, who very much has embraced this technology.
10:36So there's a level of safety that comes with the right regulations, but over-regulations can hurt this industry, and we don't want that to happen.
10:45This is the Empire State.
10:47We should be looking forward to building empires, particularly in the crypto space.
