Former New York City Mayor's token issuance accused of Rug Pull, team previously withdrew liquidity at a high level

On January 14, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams faced widespread criticism after his newly launched cryptocurrency, NYC Token, plummeted within hours of going live. Data shows that the NYC Token’s market capitalization briefly surged to approximately $580 million before rapidly dropping to around $130 million. Blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps pointed out that there was “suspicious activity”: wallets associated with the project deployer withdrew about $2.5 million in liquidity at the high point. After the token price fell by about 60%, the address re-injected approximately $1.5 million, but about $900,000 remained unrecovered. Many users on social platform X accused Adams of “rug pull,” meaning he allegedly withdrew funds for profit after promoting the project. Adams has long publicly supported cryptocurrencies and stated at an event on Monday that part of the NYC Token funds would be used to combat anti-Semitism, anti-“anti-American” projects, and to promote blockchain education among youth. The NYC Token official website shows a total supply of 1 billion tokens, with the project team set to receive a 10% profit share, though Adams has not disclosed the specific team members. Currently, no official investigation conclusions have been made regarding the allegations.