newyork

New York Mayor Eric Adams announces the first Crypto NYC Conference, aiming to turn the city into the 'global crypto capital,' competing with Silicon Valley. Will New York lead the blockchain wave? Let's analyze in detail.

Crypto NYC Conference: Big Ambitions

At the press conference, Mayor Adams, along with June Ou (co-founder of Figure Firm) and Richard Hecker (CEO of Traction and Scale), announced the Crypto NYC Conference on May 20, just two months after a similar event by Trump at the White House. Adams asserted #Newyork is emerging as a competitor to Silicon Valley in blockchain innovation, emphasizing the potential of this technology in expanding financial inclusion, especially for communities excluded from the traditional banking system.

#NEWYORK Stock Exchange rise
The Dow rises by 500 points, yet remains significantly below its peak for the session as the rally loses momentum.
On Wednesday, stocks experienced a significant rise fueled by optimism that U.S.-China trade disputes may soon be resolve.
 President Donald Trump indicated he has no intention of ousting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell from his leadership role. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 518 points, or 1.3%, while the S&P 500 increased by 1.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped by 2.7%. Despite this, the major indices pulled back from their peak levels, with the Dow initially gaining as much as 1,100 points earlier in the day.
 Trump expressed on Tuesday his readiness to adopt a less aggressive stance in trade negotiations with China, acknowledging that the current 145% tariff on Chinese goods is excessively high and will be significantly reduced, though not eliminated entirely. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed this sentiment, stating that both nations have the opportunity to strike a substantial trade agreement, urging, 'If they want to rebalance, let's do it together.'
The market has been yearning for a sign of de-escalation in the trade tensions between the U.S. and China,” remarked Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “There’s a sense of relief in the market, as we hope the most troubling discussions are behind us, but we’re not quite at the finish line yet.” 
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, referencing a White House official, that the administration is contemplating a reduction of tariffs on China to a range of 50% to 65%. However, a White House representative later informed CNBC that any such action would need to be reciprocal, requiring China to also lower its trade barriers. Stocks that are heavily influenced by China, which had seen declines in recent weeks, experienced a rebound. This included the which saw increases of 3% and 4% for Apple and Nvidia, respectively.
Midday stock movements highlight significant changes in various companies:
 Duolingo's shares rose over 9% after Morgan Stanley rated the language learning platform as overweight, setting a high price target and labeling it a premier consumer internet asset. Tesla's shares increased approximately 7% despite disappointing first-quarter earnings and revenue, with CEO Elon Musk indicating a substantial reduction in his engagement with the Department of Government Efficiency starting next month. 
Gildan Activewear's shares grew by 2% following Citigroup's positive catalyst watch on the brand, which noted that Gildan's manufacturing in Honduras could help mitigate the impact of President Trump's substantial reciprocal tariffs.

New York State Assembly member Phil Steck introduced bill A08966, which proposes a 0.2% excise tax on all transactions involving digital assets, including the sale and transfer of cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The bill, introduced on August 13, 2025, will take effect on September 1 if approved. According to Steck's estimates, the tax could generate $158 million annually, based on Chainalysis data for 2022-2023 and New York's share of U.S. GDP. The funds will be directed to prevention and drug addiction programs in northern state schools.

Coinbase has just released a series of internal documents from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to discussions about Ethereum (ETH), XRP, and other digital assets. These documents were collected through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), revealing the agency's confusion and contradictions in handling crypto-related issues – especially in the context of the SEC still pursuing major lawsuits targeting exchanges like Ripple or KuCoin.