On Thursday (Jan  10), The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), announced the opening of the new 4,000-Sq-Foot blockchain center.

Regardless of the cryptocurrency market woes, Ana Arino, chief strategy officer at the EDC says they are “playing the long game” and “Blockchain is a nascent technology, so there’s bound to be uncertainty around this evolution from year to year. While we don’t know what the future holds, we want to make sure we have a seat at the table shaping it.”

The centre is part of the partnership between NYCEDC, GBBC Labs and FuturePerfect Labs. Located in Flatiron District of Manhattan, the centre will provide entrepreneurs, innovators and the general public with business support, space and mentorship through coding classes and lectures.

The New York City provided the center with a one-time investment of $100,000. Besides that, operators are cooperating with Microsoft and IBM. The center also plans to raise money through membership fees.