Eric Adams' NYC token soars to $600M then collapses, leaving most traders underwater

According to Beincrypto, Eric Adams, who stepped down as New York City’s mayor two weeks ago, launched the NYC token, which surged to a reported $600 million market cap before crashing and leaving over 60% of the roughly 4,300 traders who bought it with losses.

On-chain analytics firm Bubblemaps flagged a wallet linked to the token’s deployer withdrawing about $2.5 million in USDC from the liquidity pool at the price peak. The token later fell from that peak to below $100,000; creators re-added $1.5 million worth of tokens and placed large buy orders of $200,000 and $300,000 at roughly 60-second intervals, moves analysts described as suspicious and ineffective. Blockworks blockchain analyst Fernando Molina said there were technical similarities with prior rug pulls, including the use of single-sided liquidity pools, and reported outcomes included more than half of investors losing under $1,000 while 15 traders lost over $100,000.

Adams’ spokesperson Todd Shapiro issued a statement calling the allegations false and saying "at no point was his involvement intended for personal or financial gain," and added the project experienced significant early volatility. What happened to the remaining roughly $1 million from the liquidity withdrawal remains unclear, and the launch has drawn continued scrutiny.

Key Topics

Crypto, Eric Adams, Nyc Token, Bubblemaps, Usdc, Liquidity Pool