Over 60% of Traders Lost Money on Eric Adams-Backed NYC Token
Eric Adams, who stepped down as New York City’s mayor two weeks in the past, made a high-profile entry into the crypto house with the launch of his personal token, NYC.
Less than 24 hours later, greater than half of the 4,300 merchants who purchased the token have been left with losses. The venture shortly took on the traits of a meme coin, with analysts describing the episode as a textbook rug pull state of affairs.
The Unexpected Comeback of Political Meme Coins
Most folks thought that 2025 had marked the end of the meme coin wave.
After a sequence of high-profile launches by sitting presidents that ended with lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} in losses, the narrative misplaced overwhelming help from retail merchants.
However, Eric Adams appears to have revived the pattern earlier than it was left behind for good. On Monday, the previous Mayor of New York introduced on social media the launch of the NYC token.
Adams clarified that it was constructed to “struggle the fast unfold of antisemitism and anti-Americanism.”
The rollout, nevertheless, resulted in significant losses for most traders. NYC shortly surged to a $600 million market cap earlier than crashing beneath $100,000.
Having seen these conditions repeatedly prior to now, the crypto neighborhood quickly started on the lookout for insiders.
On-Chain Data Fuels Insider Allegations
A follow-up evaluation by the blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps revealed {that a} pockets linked to the token’s deployer withdrew roughly $2.5 million in USDC from the liquidity pool supporting buying and selling, simply as NYC’s value reached its peak.
When the token dropped by 60%, NYC’s creators re-added $1.5 million price of tokens.
“The NYC pockets returned some of the cash to the liquidity pool and created two giant purchase orders (one for $200,000 and one other for $300,000) to make small purchases each 60 seconds. These actions, in addition to being suspicious, weren’t communicated beforehand and generated rather a lot of mistrust,” Blockworks blockchain analyst Fernando Molina informed BeInCrypto.
The maneuver additionally did little to get better the value. What occurred to the opposite $1 million stays unclear.
In the meantime, buyers have been left to lick their wounds.
On Wednesday, Bubblemaps revealed that 60% of the 4,300 merchants who invested within the token misplaced cash. More than half misplaced lower than $1,000, whereas others suffered steeper losses. Fifteen of them misplaced over $100,000.
Upon analyzing the launch, Molina drew comparisons to infamous rug pulls, such as the LIBRA token, launched by Argentine President Javier Milei final February.
“From a technical perspective, there have been many similarities: the best way the liquidity pool (the market the place NYC or LIBRA may be traded) was generated had particularities that aren’t so frequent in these launches (single-sided liquidity swimming pools),” he stated. “There is not any clear indication that it was the identical group, however the similarities are placing.”
Nonetheless, Adams quickly obtained accusations of being an insider.
Adams Denies Allegations Amid Scrutiny
On Wednesday, Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams, issued a press release responding to the rug pulls allegations.
“Recent stories alleging that Eric Adams moved cash out of the NYC Token are false and unsupported by any proof,” it learn. “At no level was his involvement supposed for private or monetary acquire.”
The assertion added that, like many newly launched tokens, the venture skilled important early volatility.
However, the reason did little to ease scrutiny of Adams, who has had a novel involvement within the better crypto scene.
As New York City’s mayor, Adams cultivated a popularity as an outspoken supporter of cryptocurrency, often championing Bitcoin and blockchain know-how. Even earlier than taking workplace, he introduced plans to obtain his first three mayoral paychecks in Bitcoin.
His time period, nevertheless, proved controversial. It was marked by corruption allegations and traditionally low approval rankings, leaving Adams with a tough path towards re-election.
Echoing a technique employed by US President Donald Trump, who courted crypto lobbyists forward of his personal re-election marketing campaign, Adams continued to position himself as a pro-crypto politician. That method in the end didn’t safe him a second time period.
Even so, the launch of the NYC Token marked the primary time Adams personally launched a cryptocurrency venture. So far, it’s off to a rocky begin.
The put up Over 60% of Traders Lost Money on Eric Adams-Backed NYC Token appeared first on BeInCrypto.
