Ex-NYC Mayor’s Token Turns Rug Pull Nightmare: Over $3 Million Drained from Liquidity Pools
The launch of the NYC token, tied to former NYC mayor Eric Adams, shortly turned disastrous after it collapsed inside hours.
What adopted have been allegations of insider promoting and liquidity manipulation, sparking outrage and a wave of scrutiny throughout the crypto business.
Political Token Disaster
According to on-chain analysts and blockchain monitoring platforms, the token was launched instantly and shortly gained huge consideration attributable to Adams’ title and public promotion. Many merchants assumed it had some official or civic backing. The hype pushed NYC’s market capitalization to almost $600 million in a really brief time.
However, the rally was short-lived. Data shared by Bubblemaps revealed suspicious liquidity pool exercise tied to a pockets related to the token’s deployer. One pockets, recognized as 9Ty4M, created a one-sided liquidity pool on Meteora and later eliminated round $2.5 million in USDC close to the value peak.
After the token crashed by roughly 60%, the identical pockets added again solely about $1.5 million and managed to extract near $1 million from the pool. No clarification was offered for these strikes.
Shortly thereafter, NYC’s market cap plunged beneath $100 million. Blockchain investigator Rune Crypto went additional, alleging that the launch was a rug pull. It additionally stated that the full liquidity eliminated later rose above $3.4 million. Lookonchain additionally confirmed that liquidity was pulled on the peak, which triggered panic promoting throughout the market. One dealer alone reportedly misplaced $473,500, which is greater than 63%, in lower than 20 minutes.
The token’s possession construction raised speedy purple flags, as one pockets held about 70% of the full provide and the highest 10 wallets managed almost 99%. This degree of focus gave insiders virtually complete management over value motion.
Further exacerbating the state of affairs, a number of faux NYC tokens appeared on the similar time, which ended up splitting liquidity and deceptive merchants. Adams framed the token as a political assertion tied to preventing antisemitism and anti-Americanism, however investigators confused there was no authorities involvement, public funds, or transparency behind the undertaking. As liquidity vanished and costs collapsed, market watchers compared the incident to earlier manipulated launches and referred to as it one of the vital excessive political-themed crypto rugs seen thus far in 2026.
Hoskinson Weighs In on Meme Coins
The chaos surrounding the NYC token echoes considerations within the business about politically tied tokens and the dangers they pose to traders. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson criticized US President Donald Trump’s involvement with meme cash, together with the Official Trump Coin, calling it “extractive” and politically divisive.
He stated the rollout of those tokens undermined bipartisan efforts to control crypto, stalling laws just like the Clarity Act and creating an surroundings the place the sector dangers being seen as corrupt. Hoskinson added that launching such cash with out correct construction or transparency alienates half the nation and leaves traders uncovered to losses, and worsens public notion of crypto.
While not in opposition to meme cash in precept, he warned that politicized launches can collapse belief, fuel scams, and turn the market right into a “predatory free-for-all.”
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