{"id":522412,"date":"2026-01-17T09:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/522412\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T09:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:09:20","slug":"adams-ally-frank-carone-among-partners-behind-nyc-ex-mayors-controversial-crypto-token","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/522412\/","title":{"rendered":"Adams ally Frank Carone among partners behind NYC ex-mayor’s controversial crypto token"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frank Carone, a close friend and longtime political confidant to Eric Adams<\/a>, is among the partners behind the launch of the ex-New York City mayor\u2019s cryptocurrency token, according to sources familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

The revelation of Carone\u2019s involvement in the so-called \u201cNYC Token<\/a>\u201d venture comes after the digital asset this week became a lightning rod for controversy. The token\u2019s value plunged when an account pulled millions of dollars in liquidity out of it within hours of the launch.<\/p>\n

The liquidity withdrawal triggered accusations that the ex-mayor\u2019s coin had been involved in a \u201crug pull,\u201d a cryptocurrency scam under which someone creates hype around a new token in order to secure capital that they then quickly pull out and run off with.<\/p>\n

Spokespeople for the NYC Token initiative have denied any rug pull, saying the liquidity shakeup was an \u201cattempt to keep trading running smoothly,\u201d but declining to elaborate further. NYC Token reps have also declined to say who is involved in the token initiative besides the ex-mayor. Adams said at a launch press conference in Times Square on Monday<\/a> that all his partners were listed on the crypto coin\u2019s website. (No partners are listed on the site.)<\/p>\n

Two sources with direct knowledge confirmed to The News on Thursday that Carone is among the \u201cpartners\u201d involved in the token. The sources didn\u2019t have details about the exact nature of Carone\u2019s involvement and it wasn\u2019t immediately clear if he provided any capital in connection with the launch.<\/p>\n

Carone, an attorney who has known the ex-mayor for decades and spearheaded Adams\u2019 aborted reelection campaign, didn\u2019t return multiple requests for comment this week. A spokesman for Carone, whose involvement was first referenced<\/a> in an Associated Press report Thursday, declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Carone has no known experience in the crypto industry.<\/p>\n

\"FrankFrank Carone attends the 2022 Sandy Hook Promise Benefit at The Ziegfeld Ballroom on Dec. 6, 2022, in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Compounding scrutiny around the NYC Token, Eddie Cullen, a onetime New York City mayoral candidate and crypto company executive, said earlier this week Adams\u2019 crypto venture rips off a proposal he presented the ex-mayor\u2019s team with last summer.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Cullen told Fortune Magazine<\/a> that he planned to send a cease-and-desist to Adams warning him to pull back the NYC Token or face possible legal repercussions\u00a0for allegedly stealing his plan.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The News on Wednesday and Thursday, Cullen said his contact with Adams\u2019 team about the initiative mainly played out over email, and included communications with Matt Fraser, the mayor\u2019s top City Hall tech official who, like Adams, is a big crypto proponent. Cullen provided The News with a pitch deck slide show that he said he shared with Adams\u2019 team in July 2025 that featured detailed explanations about how \u201cNYC Token\u2122\u201d could become a \u201ctool for citywide economic revitalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will no longer make any comments on legal strategy or any next steps as we pursue exhaustive options for accountability before enacting our plan,\u201d Cullen said.<\/p>\n

Adams spokesman Todd Shapiro declined to comment on Cullen\u2019s accusations.<\/p>\n

Brock Pierce, a crypto billionaire<\/a> close with Adams, confirmed to The News on Thursday that the ex-mayor asked him to take a look at NYC Token\u2019s \u201cfundamentals\u201d after the launch stirred up controversy.<\/p>\n

Pierce acknowledged the rollout was sloppy but said no wrongdoing occurred and that the money in liquidity isn\u2019t gone from the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crypto community has been rug-pulled many times, has been scammed many times, so [there\u2019s suspicions] when it starts to appear at all shady,\u201d Pierce said.<\/p>\n

In addition to Carone, Business Insider reported<\/a> Wednesday that Sefi Zvieli, a Brooklyn landlord, signed the certificate of formation for 18 Digital LLC, an entity listed in paperwork as being associated with NYC Token\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n

In late 2021 \u2014 after hiring Carone as an attorney \u2014 Zvieli reportedly netted<\/a> a $3.5 million deal to rent out a property he owns in Brooklyn to a city government-funded nonprofit set to operate the building as a homeless shelter.<\/p>\n

Zvieli couldn\u2019t be reached for comment Thursday.<\/p>\n

Adams, who left office on Dec. 31 after a single term marred by multiple corruption scandals, including his own federal indictment<\/a>, said at Monday\u2019s Times Square appearance that some proceeds generated from his NYC Token will be used to fund blockchain education programs. Proceeds will also go to efforts aimed at fighting \u201cantisemitism and anti-Americanism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the press conference, Adams said he didn\u2019t plan to \u201ctake a salary\u201d in connection with NYC Token \u201cat this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not be taking 9-to-5 salary jobs,\u201d said Adams, who later that day traveled to Texas, with plans to also visit Senegal, for what he described as business opportunities. \u201cI\u2019m going to be working for Eric Adams.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Josephine Stratman\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frank Carone, a close friend and longtime political confidant to Eric Adams, is among the partners behind the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":522413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,2451,3059,1370,728,405,403,5294,5296,8989,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,80,5321,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-522412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-city","10":"tag-county","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-new-york-county","16":"tag-new-york-news","17":"tag-new-york-politics","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-newyork","20":"tag-newyorkcity","21":"tag-ny","22":"tag-nyc","23":"tag-politics","24":"tag-sub-county-region","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-united-states-of-america","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","29":"tag-us","30":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115909660892041370","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}