During his final days in office, embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams teased his future after politics, pledging to use cryptocurrency to “go after violence, educate our children, and deal with antisemitism.”
It didn’t take long for Adams to unveil his plans. On Monday morning, about a dozen reporters and camera operators huddled in the heart of Times Square as Adams detailed the “NYC Token,” his yet-to-be launched cryptocurrency designed to raise funds that will be used to address antisemitism and anti-Americanism, as well as to teach children how to embrace blockchain technology.
“We want to make sure everyday New Yorkers can invest and create an atmosphere they want to see in their city,” Adams said.
The former mayor of the U.S.’s largest city didn’t say how his cryptocurrency will fight antisemitism. And he didn’t disclose who he was partnering with to launch the token, when it will be released, and how funds will be used. In a brief question-and-answer portion, Adams directed reporters to a website that he said would contain more information about the team behind the initiative.
The website, however, includes no such details, with buttons advertising “buy NYC token” and “read whitepaper” not working as of publication. Still, it claims that the token already has a $2.5 million market cap with one billion tokens in supply and 10,000 holders. The website does not list any other figures associated with the project except for Adams, who said that he would not be taking a salary at this time for the initiative though would re-evaluate the decision in the future.
In the early evening on Monday, Adams posted a link to a new website that gave an address for a cryptocurrency on the Solana blockchain. The token reached a market capitalization of more than $87 million, according to Dexscreener. Allocations of the token go to an entity called “C18 Digital.”
“$NYC represents the unstoppable energy of the Big Apple. Built for dreamers, innovators, and believers who understand that in New York, anything is possible,” read the website. “This is more than a token—it’s a movement.”
The blockchain mayor
Even before being sworn into office 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 in the crypto industry in late 2022 spurred by the collapse of the exchange FTX, staying largely silent on the sector until hosting a crypto summit at the mayoral residence of Gracie Mansion in May 2025. Later that month, Adams spoke at the crypto conference Bitcoin 2025, where he promised to create Bitcoin-backed bonds for New York City.
He never made good on that promise, but, in October 2025, he established the Office of Digital Assets and Blockchain Technology in an executive order. It remains unclear whether newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani will advance the initiative’s nebulous objectives, which include encouraging investment in New York City by the blockchain industry and evaluating initiatives that educate the public. (Mamdani said at a separate press conference on Monday that he would not be buying Adams’s new coin.)
During his tenure as mayor, Adams faced widespread criticism for ethics and conflicts of interest violations, including a Department of Justice indictment for bribery and illegal campaign donations that was later dropped under the Trump administration.
Government ethics groups have raised alarm bells over Adams’s involvement with crypto, including the leader of a super PAC assisting in setting up the Gracie Mansion summit while helping Adams raise upwards of $5 million for his re-election bid, according to Politico.
Now out of office, Adams said the crypto coin is just one of several initiatives he plans to pursue as he embarks on trips to Dallas and Senegal. Still, he made clear in Times Square on Monday that New York remains his home: “I’m not going anywhere.”
Update, Jan. 12, 2026: This story was updated with new information about the cryptocurrency after Eric Adams posted a new link to a website Monday evening.
