On Monday, the launch of a new memecoin associated with Eric Adams, the former mayor of New York City, rapidly turned controversial within crypto and financial communities. The token, named NYC Token (NYC), debuted on the Solana blockchain and was initially introduced with the stated intent to combat what Adams described as escalating antisemitism and anti-American sentiment, both nationally and within New York City.
The initial market response to the NYC Token was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. The token managed to achieve a market capitalization nearing $540 million in a very short timeframe after launch. However, this surge was short-lived as roughly 30 minutes later, data sourced from Dexscreener indicated that the market value collapsed by approximately 80 percent, dropping to about $87 million.
At the present time, the token's valuation stands at $128 million, which remains approximately 75 percent below the token's peak valuation shortly after release. Such a drastic fluctuation in valuation within minutes of trading activity has attracted widespread attention and criticism.
Following the sharp decline, numerous voices across social media and crypto analysis platforms began accusing Eric Adams of a "rug pull," a term used in the cryptocurrency sphere to describe a scenario where token creators withdraw liquidity, effectively crashing the token's value and profiting at the expense of investors.
Cryptocurrency analyst Emperor Osmo publicly asserted that Adams had extracted liquidity from the NYC Token pool and realized gains exceeding $3 million through this mechanism. Similarly, another notable on-chain analyst, Rune, echoed this claim by accusing the former mayor of orchestrating a liquidity pull that significantly devalued the token.
This sentiment was further reflected on the social media platform X, where users appended a community note to a post by Adams promoting the NYC Token. The note explicitly stated, "Former Mayor Eric Adams immediately withdrew his liquidity from the coin, in what is typically called a ‘rug pull.’" This collective response underscores the growing skepticism around the intentions behind the token's launch and its subsequent price behavior.
In response to the allegations, representatives of the NYC Token development team issued a statement addressing the situation. They explained that the liquidity adjustments were necessitated by overwhelming demand for the token following its release, requiring them to "rebalance the liquidity". Moreover, they asserted that additional funds have been injected into the liquidity pool to stabilize the token’s market conditions.
Efforts were made to obtain a direct comment from Eric Adams regarding the situation, though no definitive statement was available at the time of reporting.
The phenomenon of politically affiliated memecoins is not unprecedented. Previous launches associated with notable political figures, including former President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and Argentine President Javier Milei, have faced similar scrutiny and accusations related to financial improprieties.
Investors should remain cautiously aware that engaging in meme coin investments, especially those linked to prominent individuals or political figures, carries considerable speculation and risk. Often lacking intrinsic economic value, memecoins tend to be influenced by market sentiment, social media dynamics, and speculative trading activity rather than fundamental financial indicators.