Brock Pierce, Tether co-founder and eccentric Bitcoin billionaire, just hosted a strange press conference in defense of New York mayor Eric Adams. Pierce gave Adams over $1 million less than a week before he dropped out of the race.
This press conference featured harebrained electoral schemes, veiled threats to Adams’ advisors, and other such whimsical asides. Crypto’s oddball personalities haven’t left the space yet.
Bitcoin’s Eccentric Billionaires
SponsoredBrock Pierce first came to prominence as a child actor, but his early investment in crypto brought lingering success after he quit acting at age 16.
A lifelong interest in tech made him the erstwhile co-founder of firms such as Tether and Blockchain Capital, which made Pierce a certifiable Bitcoin billionaire.
Still, this early success hasn’t always led to sound investments or rational behavior. Case in point, Pierce was one of the Bitcoin billionaires who donated to Eric Adams, the NYC mayor and crypto candidate.
Unfortunately for Pierce, Adams dropped out last Sunday, making his recent $1 million donation totally pointless.
In response, the Tether co-founder decided to host a bizarre press conference:
Strange Demands and Future Plans
Pierce claimed that he was going to launch a “Draft Eric Back” movement, refusing offers to get his donation back. He was apparently “shocked by the blindness of this city” when he heard that Adams conceded his defeat.
SponsoredAlthough many Bitcoin enthusiasts are bullish about Zohran Mamdani’s campaign, this billionaire wants to see him defeated. Pierce urged Adams, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa to work together for this purpose.
He also went on a tirade about Frank Carone, Adams’ former chief of staff and top advisor. Pierce called him a “rat” who “sabotaged [Adams’s] campaign,” claiming that the Bitcoin billionaire has a responsibility to “clean up the trash.”
“I had no idea who this man was until yesterday. I’ve never spoken to or met him, he had zero role in our campaign. [He] has no idea what those of us who worked their hearts out for the mayor and this City, did or didn’t do,” Carone said in response to these provocative statements.
Past Flirtations With Politics
Bitcoin may be pursuing a new clean-cut image with its TradFi inflows and political power, but eccentric billionaires like Pierce can still remind us of the industry’s early antics.
He ran a protest campaign for President in 2020, claiming that he was “shooting for bronze.” In other words, he aimed to increase crypto’s presence, not actually win.
As a personal anecdote, this writer personally encountered two of Pierce’s volunteers shortly before casting a ballot in that election.
They asked if I was familiar with him or his platform, which I was, being an active crypto journalist at the time. Suffice it to say, I did not vote for him.
Clearly, the man still has an interest in politics five years later. It seems highly unlikely that this Bitcoin billionaire will halt Zohran Mamdani’s rise to Gracie Mansion, but his antics continue to amuse all the same.
