Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has launched a Solana-based meme coin, which he says will help combat rising hate and inspire the next wave of innovation in the city.
Summary
- Former New York Mayor Eric Adamans has launched NYC token, a Solana-based cryptocurrency that has become the center of controversy.
- The token briefly surged to a $580 million market cap before plunging sharply.
- Adams said proceeds from the token would support nonprofits, blockchain education, and scholarships.
Dubbed the New York City token (NYC), Adams announced the meme coin via a Jan. 13 X post, which subsequently went live for trading on the Solana-based decentralized exchange Jupiter.
“Proud to launch @buynyctoken, a new token built to fight the rapid spread of antisemitism and anti-Americanism across this country and now in New York City,” Adams wrote, while sharing a link to the token’s official website.
In an accompanying video, Adams was seen in a taxi, saying that the project would “take off like crazy.”
While the NYC token did in fact rally to a high of $0.58 and reached a market cap of $580 million according to DEXScreener data, it was not long before that value plunged to less than $130 million at the time of writing.
The sudden collapse unfolded as some community members accused the project team of intentionally removing liquidity. Data flagged by crypto analyst Rune suggested that at least $3.4 million had been drained from the token’s liquidity pool.
Meanwhile, analytics shared by Bubblemaps showed that a wallet linked to the token’s deployer removed $2.5 million in USDC liquidity when the token was trading near its peak.
Subsequently, about $1.5 million in USDC was added back after the price had already fallen more than 60%. However, roughly $900,000 was not returned, fueling further suspicion.
These allegations have not been confirmed, but the NYC token X account released a statement claiming that the team is using Time-Weighted Average Price (TWAP) mechanisms to manage the token’s price stability. According to the post, funds are being added to the liquidity pool gradually to avoid additional market disruption following the initial launch volatility.
Nevertheless, crypto community members and investors were quick to raise concerns about a possible rug pull, citing the timing and size of the liquidity movement.
NYC token to fund a cause
Although the token’s official website provides little information on the project’s long-term direction, Adams stated in a Fox Business interview that proceeds from the NYC token would be directed toward nonprofits focused on raising awareness about antisemitism and anti-Americanism through educational campaigns.
Other intended use cases include funding blockchain and crypto education and supporting scholarships for students in underserved communities.
Per official documentation on the site, 40% of NYC tokens are allocated to community rewards, 25% to liquidity, and 15% to development. The remaining 20% is split between marketing and the project team.
The website also claims that the project aims to create “a decentralized financial ecosystem that’s as ambitious as the city itself,” although no further information has been made available.
Adams officially stepped down as mayor on Jan. 1, after being replaced by Zohran Mamdani.
During his time in office, he was one of the most outspoken political figures in support of cryptocurrency, and was behind several major initiatives, including converting his first three paychecks into Bitcoin and Ethereum, creating the Office of Digital Assets and Blockchain Technology, and launching the NYC Blockchain Plan to encourage responsible innovation and attract Web3 businesses to the city.
Source: https://crypto.news/former-nyc-mayor-eric-adams-unveils-nyc-token-raising-rug-pull-concerns/
