Billionaires lash out as socialist Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayoral primary

Billionaires lash out as socialist Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayoral primary originally appeared on TheStreet.

The young politician Zohran Mamdani recently declared victory in the Democratic primary for the New York City mayoral election, beating former city governor Andrew Cuomo.

The 33-year-old Indian-American politician ran an effective election campaign, replete with India's Hindi-language movie quotes and Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's iconic poses. However, it is his socialist economic agenda for NYC that has drawn sharp reactions from crypto industry leaders.

Gemini boss casts doubts on Mamdani's November win

Among the most prominent crypto leaders to criticize Mamdani's primary win was the billionaire Cameron Winklevoss.

Cameron, along with his identical twin brother Tyler, co-founded the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange in 2014. As Gemini emerged as one of the world's top crypto exchanges, the twins became the world's first Bitcoin billionaires.

Cameron Winklevoss doubted the city would elect Mamdani during the general election in November even if the socialist leader successfully wooed what Winklevoss called the "TikTok crowd" this time.

Join the discussion with CryptoWendyO on Roundtable here.

The Gemini boss later wrote on X that a lot of people had asked him if he will support a candidate who can defeat Mamdani in the NYC mayoral race. He added:

"TBH, I’m torn and undecided. Like every other city run by democrats, NYC is a broken kleptocracy. Taxes are astronomical and services are pathetic to nonexistent. Anarchy and socialism are the next logical steps in this story arc."

Winklevoss said it's what people in the city have been asking for years, and it would be a waste of money to fight against the tide.

Ackman mulls supporting candidate against "avowed socialist"

However, there is one billionaire who is considering supporting a candidate against Mamdani in the November election.

Bill Ackman, the founder and CEO of the hedge fund management firm Pershing Square Capital Management, said an "avowed socialist" like Mamdani lacks the necessary skillset to run a $2 trillion city economy.

The billionaire said he is open to sponsoring a write-in candidate against Mamdani and added:

"Importantly, there are hundreds of million of dollars of capital available to back a competitor to Mamdani that can be put together overnight (believe me, I am in the text strings and the WhatsApp groups) so that a great alternative candidate won’t spend any time raising funds."

Tik Tok, capitalism, and Mamdani

Crypto entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano was scathing in his criticism of those who voted for Mamdani.

Pompliano is the founder and CEO of Professional Capital Management and a vocal Bitcoin advocate. Reacting to the recent political development in NYC, he said that those "who got their brains fried on TikTok" are attacking capitalism.

Join the discussion with Scott Melker on Roundtable here.

The Bitcoin bull, however, underlined that regardless of who the mayor, governor, or president is, "Bitcoin keeps winning." He added:

"Bitcoin was created to be a sovereign, decentralized asset that allowed anyone to benefit from the principles of sound money."

Pompliano also said, "In a weird way, the crazier the economic policies of leaders [are], the more Bitcoin will be of benefit to people."

Polymarket traders nailed primary election

As reported earlier, crypto betters on prediction markets nailed Mamdani winning the Democratic mayoral primary, as over 99% of the Polymarket traders bet on the young leader.

Join the discussion with Zack Guzman on Roundtable here.

New York City's current mayor, Eric Adams, is a strong Bitcoin advocate. Mamdani, on the other hand, hasn't talked about crypto specifically so far, though in the middle of the campaign in early April, he criticized his opponent Cuomo for advising the crypto exchange OKX that "broke US law."

Whoever wins the November election will become the mayor of NYC and could potentially reshape the city's crypto policy.

Billionaires lash out as socialist Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayoral primary first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 27, 2025

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.