A Bronx-born entrepreneur, Edward Cullen, is preparing a cease-and-desist after accusing former mayor Eric Adams of launching NYC Token on Monday using Cullen’s concept and name. Cullen says he pitched the idea in June and plans legal action.
Eric Adams promoted the Solana-based token in Times Square, saying it would fund efforts against antisemitism and support education for underserved communities. Data shows the token briefly hit a $600 million market cap then fell to about $41 million.
Someone with access to a wallet tied to the token removed liquidity on a Solana decentralized exchange, taking nearly $1 million (Ed. note: this withdrawal coincided with the token’s sharp early price drop). A spokesperson for Adams said the market maker “moved liquidity” and stated “the team has not sold any tokens and are subject to lockups and transfer restrictions.”
In a revised statement the spokesperson added “THE TEAM HAS NOT WITHDRAWN ANY MONEY FROM THE ACCOUNT,” while declining to comment on Cullen’s claim. The token’s supply allocates portions to creators and to C18 Digital, an entity formed Dec. 30 in Delaware.
Cullen says his firm Crescite owns the domain nyctoken.com and shared a pitch deck that outlined borough-specific revenue streams and a private sale plan. Records show Cullen chairs Innovate NY, which spent $81,400 supporting Andrew Cuomo and $15,000 opposing the current mayor (records).
Crescite announced a collaboration with BitGo to explore faith-based digital assets (press release). Background on Cullen’s prior mayoral bid appears on Ballotpedia, and his recent knighting was noted on LinkedIn.
