Throughout his last days in workplace, embattled New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams teased his future after politics, pledging to make use of cryptocurrency to “go after violence, educate our children, and deal with antisemitism.”
It didn’t take lengthy for Adams to unveil his plans. On Monday morning, a few dozen reporters and digital camera operators huddled within the coronary heart of Instances Sq. as Adams detailed the “NYC Token,” his yet-to-be launched cryptocurrency designed to boost funds that will likely be used to handle antisemitism and anti-Americanism, in addition to to show kids tips on how to embrace blockchain expertise.
“We want to make sure everyday New Yorkers can invest and create an atmosphere they want to see in their city,” Adams mentioned.
The previous mayor of the U.S.’s largest metropolis didn’t say how his cryptocurrency will struggle antisemitism. And he didn’t disclose who he was partnering with to launch the token, when it will likely be launched, and the way funds will likely be used. In a short question-and-answer portion, Adams directed reporters to a web site that he mentioned would comprise extra details about the group behind the initiative.
The web site, nevertheless, consists of no such particulars, with buttons promoting “buy NYC token” and “read whitepaper” not working as of publication. Nonetheless, it claims that the token already has a $2.5 million market cap with one billion tokens in provide and 10,000 holders. The web site doesn’t record another figures related to the undertaking apart from Adams, who mentioned that he wouldn’t be taking a wage presently for the initiative although would re-evaluate the choice sooner or later.
The blockchain mayor
Even earlier than being sworn into workplace in January 2022, Adams was a crypto booster and promised to take his first three mayoral checks in Bitcoin. He touted that New York was “going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry.”
His enthusiasm was dampened by the downturn within the crypto trade in late 2022 spurred by the collapse of the trade FTX, staying largely silent on the sector till internet hosting a crypto summit on the mayoral residence of Gracie Mansion in Might 2025. Later that month, Adams spoke on the crypto convention Bitcoin 2025, the place he promised to create Bitcoin-backed bonds for New York Metropolis.
He by no means made good on that promise, however, in October 2025, he established the Workplace of Digital Belongings and Blockchain Expertise in an government order. It stays unclear whether or not newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani will advance the initiative’s nebulous goals, which embody encouraging funding in New York Metropolis by the blockchain trade and evaluating initiatives that educate the general public. (Mamdani mentioned at a separate press convention on Monday that he wouldn’t be shopping for Adams’s new coin.)
Throughout his tenure as mayor, Adams confronted widespread criticism for ethics and conflicts of curiosity violations, together with a Division of Justice indictment for bribery and unlawful marketing campaign donations that was later dropped beneath the Trump administration.
Authorities ethics teams have raised alarm bells over Adams’s involvement with crypto, together with the chief of a brilliant PAC aiding in establishing the Gracie Mansion summit whereas serving to Adams increase upwards of $5 million for his re-election bid, in keeping with Politico.
Now out of workplace, Adams mentioned the crypto coin is only one of a number of initiatives he plans to pursue as he embarks on journeys to Dallas and Senegal. Nonetheless, he made clear in Instances Sq. on Monday that New York stays his house: “I’m not going anywhere.”
