On Nov. 4, Democratic Party candidate Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election, beating ex-New York state governor Andrew Cuomo and GOP favorite Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani is not an outspoken opponent of cryptocurrencies. Neither is he a prominent ally. However, the crypto community flooded X with commentary on Mamdani’s victory, voicing support, rage, and indifference.
Summary
- Mamdani is championing making New York an affordable city for working-class families. His platform includes freezing rents, setting free buses, and building affordable housing.
- Another staple of his campaign is increasing taxes for the rich and corporations.
- Given that NYC is a home for nearly 350,000 millionaires, critics speculate that Mamdani’s victory may trigger an exodus in favor of a softer jurisdiction.
- Mamdani has been silent about cryptocurrencies. He has mostly mentioned them while criticizing Cuomo. However, crypto X met the news of Mamdani’s victory with lots of strong opinions and a bit of support.
Mamdani’s victory
Over a million of the eight million New Yorkers voted for Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, following the footsteps of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Mamdani became the first Muslim to head the city office. While he was a little-known figure in politics prior to President Trump’s victory in November 2024, Mamdani managed to rally young voters.
According to the New York Times, Mamdani carried precincts where the median registered voter’s age was 45 or younger, beating Cuomo by 30 percentage points.
He also visited districts with anomalously high percentages of Trump votes in the 2024 Presidential election (Queens and the Bronx, etc.) and asked residents why they voted for Trump. The common thread? Costs of living and affordability. Both became the focal points of Mamdani’s platform.
Mamdani’s viral political TikTok and Instagram videos also helped. One video captured Mamdani’s walking the length of Manhattan, speaking to the residents a few days before the Democratic primary in June.
As the first South Asian to head New York, Mamdani has been advocating for the interests of the minorities. In his victory speech on Tuesday night, Mamdani claimed that “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants. And as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
On several occasions during his campaign, Mamdani addressed his potential voters from national diasporas living in New York in their native tongues.
Mamdani promised to make city buses free, build affordable houses, and freeze rents. New York ranks as the most expensive city in the U.S.
These and other issues from his platform drew scrutiny, with critics blasting Mamdani’s program as unrealistic.
Crypto X reacts to Mamdani’s victory
Mamdani’s popularity signals the piling financial problems the youth are facing these days.
Given that New York is one of the world’s economic centers, the mayor-elect’s plans may affect the U.S. and other countries. Notable figures in the crypto sector chimed in on what the election means.
Austin Campbell of Aleo Foundation and Zero Knowledge Group founder was one of those who compared Mamdani to President Trump. Both lacked substantial political experience before entering their respective leadership positions, leaned heavily on social media to get their message across and, as Campbell, appealed to those unhappy with the status quo.
Ironically, Campbell pointed out, Trump’s failure to ban TikTok in the U.S. only helped Mamdani capture more voter attention.
Others across the crypto community, like ProCap CEO Anthony Pompliano and Wolf of All Streets podcast host Scott Melker kept calm.
In a series of X posts, Pompliano criticized socialism but noted that the city will continue to stand for ambition and opportunity.
Melker, meanwhile, noted that mayors come and go, and the political pendulum keeps on swinging, concluding that New York “will be fine.”
Such a relaxed position contrasts with more alarmist claims that London and San Francisco exemplify how cities may change under poor management.
Bitcoin advocate Max Keiser went so far as to say Mamdani’s victory bodes well for Trump: “NYC will economically melt down and boost Trump’s results in the mid-terms.”
The next midterm elections will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026.
Unchained Crypto media founder, former Forbes senior editor, Laura Shin, opposed Mamdani before the election, citing troubles her family went through while living under the communist regime in North Korea.
It’s worth noting that North Korea remains under a communist dictatorship, which is not the same as democratic socialism.
Shin urged New Yorkers to vote for Cuomo as the lesser of two evils. Following Mamdani’s victory, she reposted some of the tweets criticizing the new mayor-elect.
New York hedge fund manager and Bitcoin proponent Bill Ackman has been critical of Mamdani and supported Cuomo. However, following the news of Mamdani’s victory, the billionaire congratulated him and offered the mayor-elect his help in NYC.
Some notable figures in the crypto space were critical of Mamdani before the election but haven’t publicly reacted to his victory yet. In a post published in June, Gemini’s Tyler Winklevoss warned about the evils of socialism and Marxism and assumed New York City would learn it “the hard way.”
Mamdani and cryptocurrencies
There isn’t much substantial info regarding Mamdani’s stance on crypto.
Cuomo, meanwhile, worked as a paid legal consultant for OKX while the cryptocurrency exchange was under federal investigation. Mamdani referenced this relationship against Cuomo during the campaign (OKX pleaded guilty earlier this year to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws).
In 2023, Mamdani supported tighter regulation of crypto in New York, saying that it’s small investors from low-income groups who suffer the most when crypto companies collapse.
The city currently has two crypto bills in the works. A7788 aims to allow residents to pay legal fees and fines in cryptocurrencies. A8966 seeks to raise taxes on crypto transactions. However, Mamdani cannot dictate which bill to adopt.
