Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams claimed he did not profit from the disastrous launch of NYC Token ($NYC), which erased nearly $500 million in paper value within minutes of its debut. While Adams’ spokesperson dismissed allegations of a rug pull as “false,” on-chain data paints a conflicting picture of liquidity tampering.
The $2.5 Million Discrepancy
The token, launched on Solana to ostensibly fund blockchain education and combat antisemitism, surged to a market cap of nearly $600 million before violently correcting. It currently trades down over 80% from its peak.
Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps identified a wallet linked to the project’s deployer that removed approximately $2.43 million in USDC liquidity right as the price crested. While $1.5 million was eventually returned to the pool, roughly $932,000 remains unaccounted for.
“Timing and size of these movements suggest some level of pre-planned activity.” Bubblemaps
Conflicting Narratives
The damage control has been chaotic. Adams’ spokesperson, Todd Shapiro, vehemently denied that the former mayor moved investor funds or personally benefited. Yet, the official NYC Token X account issued a contradictory statement, admitting that partners had to “rebalance the liquidity” due to unexpected demand, a euphemism rarely comforting to holders who bought the top.
This is not Adams’ first brush with crypto volatility; he famously converted his first mayoral paycheck into Bitcoin and Ethereum during the 2022 bear market. But the mechanics of the NYC Token launch, specifically the unilateral withdrawal of liquidity by a deployer-linked wallet, mirror the precise structure of the “rug pulls” regulators have vowed to crush.
