Former NYC mayor launches cryptocurrency amid controversy
Eric Adams, former mayor of New York City, launched the NYC token on January 12, 2026 during a press conference in Times Square. The token was promoted as a way to combat antisemitism and anti-Americanism while educating children about blockchain technology. Adams, known as the “Bitcoin Mayor” for his crypto enthusiasm, unveiled the token with a total supply of one billion tokens. The token initially surged to a market capitalisation of approximately $600 million before collapsing within hours of launch. The project website lacked critical details including partnerships, team information, and a comprehensive whitepaper at launch time. Adams stated he would not take a salary for the initiative initially but would re-evaluate the decision in the future.finance.
Suspicious liquidity extraction and price collapse
On-chain analytics platform Bubblemaps identified suspicious transactions involving a wallet linked to the NYC token creator on Monday. The wallet, identified as 9Ty4M, withdrew approximately $2.43 million in USDC from liquidity pools on Meteora exchange near the token’s peak price. After the token’s value declined by more than 60%, the wallet re-added approximately $1.5 million back into the pool. The net result was an estimated $932,000 to $1 million in extracted USDC that disappeared from the liquidity. The NYC token price plummeted from approximately $0.58 to $0.11 within 30 minutes of launch.
The market capitalisation collapsed from $600 million to less than $110 million as trading continued throughout Monday. Multiple crypto analysts warned that roughly $3.4 million in liquidity appeared to have been drained altogether. The rapid collapse sparked immediate allegations of a rug pull, a type of scam where developers extract value and abandon a project.
Pattern matches previous scams and team offers vague explanations
Bubblemaps analysts drew direct parallels between the NYC token activity and the controversial LIBRA token launch scandal from 2025. The LIBRA project also exhibited signs of manipulated liquidity pools with similar extraction patterns during its launch phase. Bubblemaps connected wallets used to initiate both ELAN and LIBRA tokens, revealing a pattern of orchestrated manipulation across multiple launches. These similarities have raised serious concerns about whether the NYC token represents another coordinated scheme by the same actors. The team behind the NYC token responded by claiming partners had to “rebalance the liquidity” due to “overwhelming demand” for the memecoin.
However, critics pointed out the absence of clear explanations for why liquidity was removed at peak prices and re-added after crashes. The project’s website still lacks transparency regarding team members, partnerships, and detailed tokenomics documentation. Newly elected NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated publicly that he would not be buying Adams’ new token when asked at a press conference. Investors lost significant capital within hours of launch, raising questions about Adams’ involvement and knowledge of the liquidity manipulation tactics.
