Former New York Mayor’s NYC memecoin rugpulls investors at launch, and the method used was shockingly brazen
Former New York mayor Eric Adams’ new NYC token fell greater than 81% inside about half-hour of its Jan. 12 launch on Solana, wiping out roughly $500 million in peak paper worth.
The token briefly reached an estimated market cap of $540 million–$600 million.
Adams unveiled the challenge at a Times Square occasion about 12 days after leaving workplace and tied the token to funding blockchain schooling and combating antisemitism.
The launch was promoted via his verified X account and later annotated by X Community Notes with a “rug pull” warning.
Adams framed the enterprise as a part of an effort to counter antisemitism.
On-chain investigators rapidly targeted on liquidity actions and focus dangers.
According to Bubblemaps, a pockets linked to the deployer created a one-sided liquidity pool on Meteora and eliminated roughly $2.5 million in USDC close to peak pricing.
It then added again about $1.5 million after the token value had already dropped greater than 60%, leaving about $932,000 not accounted for in that spherical journey.
Solscan exhibits the referenced deployer-linked account exercise tied to the evaluation.
The identical reporting additionally documented excessive provide focus, with the high 5 wallets holding about 92% of provide and the high 10 about 98.73%.
It included one pockets with about 70%.
Retail losses have been seen in transaction histories
One Solscan-tracked wallet executed 5 buys totaling 745,725 USDC and then offered for 272,177 USDC.
That dealer misplaced about $473,548 in underneath 20 minutes.
The velocity of the drawdown and the centralized holdings construction meant value discovery relied on a skinny set of wallets and a small quantity of detachable liquidity.
Those situations can amplify slippage throughout exits on DEX venues.
| Metric | NYC |
|---|---|
| Peak market cap | $540M–$600M |
| Post-crash market cap | ~$87M–$110M |
| Peak value | ~$0.58 |
| Crash value | ~$0.11 |
| Price change | -81%+ |
| USDC faraway from liquidity (est.) | $2.43M–$3.4M |
| Time from peak to crash | ~half-hour |
Eric Adam’s crypto historical past
The episode landed on a public determine who has spent years linking his political model to crypto.
According to NYC.gov, Adams organized to transform his first paycheck as mayor into cryptocurrency in early 2022.
He had beforehand acknowledged on X in 2021 that he would take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin, together with in a post tied to that pledge.
In 2025, he elevated his crypto visibility via metropolis initiatives and public appearances, whereas his political standing shifted after he misplaced the Democratic major to Zohran Mamdani and left workplace at the finish of 2025.
Separately, in accordance with CNBC and Axios, a federal decide dismissed Adams’ corruption case with prejudice on April 2, 2025, after the Justice Department sought dismissal.
How US regulation allowed NYC token to exist
The market backdrop issues as a result of NYC arrived after different politician- and celebrity-linked tokens drew scrutiny for payment extraction, insider allocations, and steep drawdowns.
Data locations NYC’s 81% crash alongside steep declines in TRUMP and MELANIA from their peaks.
The broader memecoin market cap fell 61% from early 2025 highs to roughly $36.5 billion, then rebounded to $47.3 billion in early 2026.
Volumes additionally dropped from round $20 billion in mid-2025 to underneath $3 billion by December.
On Solana, that very same materials cited a 2025 token creation growth and a low share of tokens reaching sustained buying and selling venues.
That throughput sample can preserve attention-driven launches competing for the identical retail liquidity.
Regulatory posture has additionally shifted in ways in which depart retail outcomes depending on disclosure decisions, platform controls, and basic anti-fraud enforcement reasonably than the disclosure regime investors affiliate with securities choices.
According to a Feb. 27, 2025 SEC staff statement, many memecoins don’t contain securities transactions as a result of they’re usually bought for leisure, social interplay, and cultural functions.
The assertion additionally warned that fraudulent conduct can nonetheless be pursued by different federal or state authorities.
Since that workers assertion, public enforcement exercise towards meme coin issuers has been restricted.
It added that prosecutors have continued to deliver fraud circumstances in different crypto contexts, and states have explored statutes tailor-made to liquidity-pool theft and related conduct.
In New York, the proposed laws would outline and criminalize sure “rug pull” conduct primarily based on developer holdings and promote conduct.
That would create a separate pathway from federal securities theories.
For NYC, the fast questions heart on management and disclosure: who financed the launch, what agreements ruled liquidity provisioning and market making, and whether or not promotional representations matched on-chain execution.
Those questions intensified as a result of the deployer-linked liquidity removing occurred at the level of most retail demand.
They additionally intensified as a result of the token’s provide distribution left value formation depending on a small variety of wallets that would promote into skinny liquidity or withdraw it fully.
Adams has publicly promoted the token, whereas the NYC Token account has mentioned liquidity preparations on X.
Neither has printed an in depth accounting that reconciles the roughly $932,000 hole cited in the Bubblemaps evaluation.
Ultimately, the story is one I needed to confirm a number of occasions to make sure it was not primarily based on deepfake video or imagery. It appeared too fantastical and absurd to be true. However, it seems that that is the world we now dwell in.
If the president of the United States can launch a memecoin, then why not a former New York mayor? Still, whereas the president removes liquidity in accordance with a daily, public schedule, resulting in a sluggish decline in worth, Adams rug-pulled investors at launch, nuking all worth right away.
US retail investors who purchased each NYC and TRUMPOFFICIAL at launch are underwater on each, and it is unlikely both will instill confidence that crypto is usually a pressure for good.
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