Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams Accused of Crypto Pump and Dump With NYC Token

On Monday, former New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams, who simply left workplace following the election of Zohran Mamdani, promoted the launch of a brand new NYC Token memecoin on the Solana blockchain through a press conference, social media, and interviews. Based on Adams, the purpose of the crypto token is to assist “struggle anti-semitism” throughout the nation.

“We all know cities can run higher, and by utilizing this New York Metropolis Token, we’re going to proceed to put money into making our metropolis a safer metropolis,” mentioned Adams throughout his press occasion. “I’m not going anyplace.”

Adams added that funds raised by the token providing can be used to construct a non-profit group, the place the previous mayor would initially chorus from taking a wage.

Based on blockchain observers, the NYC Token launch was profitable when it comes to producing funds, as actions of cryptocurrency on the Solana community point out that at least $2.5 million worth of the token was liquidated into Circle’s USDC stablecoin by entities concerned with the unique launch. This adopted a common pump-and-dump pattern seen in many of the meme coins launched on Solana over the previous couple of years, which occurred lower than an hour after the coin went reside.

On account of the value motion and blockchain exercise following the NYC Token launch, Adams has been accused of working a pump-and-dump rip-off, which is extraordinarily widespread with these types of crypto cash and is sometimes called a rug pull. Data from DEXTools signifies the token went from roughly $0.12 to almost $0.60 earlier than falling under its unique place to begin. This all occurred in a bit over an hour.

In an announcement posted on X, the NYC Token staff wrote:

Given the overwhelming help and demand for the token at launch, our companions needed to rebalance the liquidity. We’re conscious of studies flagging the transactions eradicating liquidity from the pool.

The staff commenced the funds for TWAP and added extra funds to the liquidity pool.

We’re in it for the lengthy haul!

Adams notably embraced Bitcoin and crypto during his mayoral campaign, and shortly grew to become known as the “Bitcoin Mayor” after his election win. Actually, NYC Token just isn’t the primary cryptocurrency Adams has been concerned with, as he helped launch New York City Coin during his time in office. This was a separate token that was launched on prime of the Stacks blockchain and was supposedly going for use to fund numerous authorities companies through investments made within the NYC-focused coin. The undertaking behind the token, often known as CityCoins, launched the same undertaking in Miami across the identical time. After all, neither token gained a lot traction regardless of the endorsements of the native mayors.

Eric Adams, former NYC main, has simply eliminated liquidity of his new memecoin, $NYC, scamming buyers for over $2,536,301

He launched a $NYC memecoin simply half-hour in the past, and has eliminated its liquidity after selling it on his private social media, claiming to be the NYC token https://t.co/4s20jOTKEN pic.twitter.com/pFAG7l0XMq

— Rune (@RuneCrypto_) January 12, 2026

A lot of entertainers, politicians, and different celebrities have been caught up in numerous memecoin schemes over the previous couple of years, with everybody from Argentine President Javier Milei to the “Hawk Tuah” girl getting concerned. After all, U.S. President Trump also launched his own memecoin across the time of his inauguration, which is only one of his many doubtful and allegedly corrupt actions within the crypto house.

Many of those celebrity-endorsed initiatives operated in the identical fast pump-and-dump method as Adams’s NYC Token, though crypto-native entrepreneurs had been usually those behind the schemes, merely paying celebrities for his or her endorsements. Celebrities’ social media accounts have additionally been hacked to advertise these kind of cash. After all, some have questioned whether or not a few of these “hacks” had been merely a means for celebrities to advertise outright scams with out a lot blowback.

Whereas bitcoin and stablecoins have clearly discovered product-market match, the overwhelming majority of other crypto tokens that promised numerous different technical improvements are nonetheless principally seen as doubtful. In some methods, memecoins are the extra trustworthy model of the altcoin market, the place there is no such thing as a expectation of actual utility or long-term adoption, and the degenerate playing side of the crypto market is absolutely embraced. In different phrases, it’s a on line casino, albeit one that’s doubtless much more rigged than conventional markets or playing venues.