Bill Ackman calls on New York to fix its crypto-unfriendly rules and asks how NYC's mayor can even spend his bitcoin paycheck

• Investor Bill Ackman urged New York political leaders to remove the state's barriers to crypto access Thursday.
• "We can't lose any more New Yorkers," he told Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams, in response to a tweet.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has urged New York's political leaders to clear roadblocks in crypto access that he believes are driving residents to flee the state.

"Let's fix this right away," he said in a Thursday tweet to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

"We can't lose any more New Yorkers. NY is on its way to becoming a crypto center of innovation. Let's remove barriers, create opportunities for growth and innovation, and help our state and city!"

Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, was responding to crypto proponent Mike Dudas, who complained his New York residency makes it hard to open accounts with most major US exchanges.

Dudas, whose early-stage venture capital fund has invested in crypto projects alongside the likes of Andreesen Horowitz, said he'd most likely move to Connecticut due to the obstacles.

He slammed New York's BitLicense as an "absolute abomination and embarrassment" to the state.

Individuals who simply want to make or receive crypto payments don't need a BitLicense. But anyone else wanting to carry out regulated digital-asset transactions in New York state must have the permit, which is issued by the state's Department of Financial Services.

Critics say that the crypto-operating permit is bad for business, because of the hefty legal fees that come with obtaining one. Crypto banking firm Xapo gave up its own BitLicense last month — without revealing why — and said it would stop offering services to US customers altogether.

Jack Dorsey's Block said this week that its Cash App customers in the US would be able to send bitcoin faster via an upgrade using the Lightning Network. The only exception? Residents of New York.

"At this time New York residents aren't eligible for Lightning," Cash App said in a Monday tweet. Some Twitter users were frustrated by being shut out, blaming the BitLicense rule.

Data from New York's state regulator shows Square, as Block was formerly known, is listed as holding a virtual currency license. But its new name Block isn't reflected in the records.

In his Twitter back-and-forth, Ackman pointed to the potential hitch in the system for Adams, who has said he would take his first three paychecks in bitcoin.

"And how is .@NYCMayor going to spend his first few weeks @Bitcoin pay unless this gets fixed?" he asked.

Adams, who was sworn in as the city's 110th mayor at the start of the year, has been vocal about wanting to transform New York into a major crypto hub that rivals Miami.

Ackman appears to have deleted an earlier tweet saying crypto innovation should be a "top priority" in the state of New York, according to Bloomberg.

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