A Bronx-born entrepreneur is drafting a cease-and-desist letter to the creators of Eric Adams’ NYC token, claiming the former New York City mayor stole the concept.
“I’m 100% sure he took this concept from us,” said Edward Cullen, co-founder and CEO of digital asset firm Crescite. decryption on tuesday. “We were really shocked yesterday that (Adams) launched this (token) with the exact same name and same general concept.”
On Monday, the recently retired mayor appeared in Times Square to promote the NYC Token. Adams said the cryptocurrency project will generate revenue to fight “anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism,” while providing educational resources to underserved communities in the city.
Solana-based tokens have soared to a market cap of $600 million, plummeted Shortly after its debut, it has recently hovered around $41 million. The token’s rapid decline sparked allegations of fraud as someone with access to the crypto wallets associated with the token’s creation made off with nearly $1 million by removing liquidity from a Solana-based decentralized exchange.
in a statement to decryptionan Adams spokesperson said the market maker for the NYC token “moved liquidity” as part of its efforts to ensure a smooth trading experience. It further added that “the team does not sell any tokens and is subject to lockups and transfer restrictions.”
In a revised statement, a spokesperson stressed that “the team has not withdrawn any money from the account,” but did not respond to questions about Cullen.
Late last year, towards the end of his term as mayor, Adams embarked on a trip to Albania, Israel and Uzbekistan. As the tokens he promotes come under increased scrutiny, onlookers are questioning why NYC Token’s official X account claims to be based in Europe.
A portion of the NYC Token supply will be allocated for its creator and “C18 Digital,” which owns and operates the website. The entity was incorporated on Dec. 30 as “C18 Digital, LLC,” according to a database maintained by the Delaware Division of Corporations.
Mr. Cullen, who now lives in Tennessee, along with several political action committees, claimed to have pitched the idea of the NYC token to Mr. Adams in June. He added that Crescite owns the domain.nyctoken.com” and took steps to trademark the term.
Cullen claimed that while Adams’ team had a lukewarm response to the token concept, they did not reject the concept completely. He said he was more annoyed by the idea that Adams “ruined the project” than that Adams had taken elements of the project away from him.
“We presented this as an opportunity to use our digital assets to help the city’s residents and make things more affordable,” Cullen said. “And it looks like they shot it down, but they didn’t actually shoot it down.”
pitch deck shared with decryption It details the “NYC Token” with a different logo and color scheme than the project promoted by Adams. Another slide details how the token will be used to provide a dedicated revenue stream for each of the city’s five boroughs.
Cullen said Crescite plans to offer the NYC token through a private sale, with half of the proceeds going to high-yield assets. The remainder of the funds will be used for venture investments, with holders having a say in the allocation.
“Innovation NY,” a political action committee chaired by Karen; spent $81,400 to support former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran unsuccessfully as an independent against New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani. The organization also spent $15,000 campaigning against the current mayor.
In October, Innovate NY endorsed Cuomo for mayor. The group, chaired by Karen, said supporting the NYC token is a core part of its policy agenda. In the press release, the term “NYC Token” has been trademarked.
Mr. Cullen ran against Mr. Adams in the 2021 mayoral election, but did not enter the race for the Democratic nomination, and Mr. Adams won. As a candidate, Karen promoted the concept of inclusive capitalism, according to . votingpedia.
Infrastructure company BitGo said in October: press release It is collaborating with Crescite on a “faith-based digital asset initiative.” Under the deal, the two companies will explore the concept of a stablecoin that can be used to fund church operations.
Last year, Karen was given the title of knight It was awarded by the Catholic Church in a ceremony conducted by Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Creshite itself is a Latin term that appears in the book of Genesis.
