Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing significant backlash after the crash of his newly launched cryptocurrency, the NYC Token, shortly after its debut on Monday. The token initially soared to a market cap of $580 million but has since fallen sharply to approximately $133 million.
Eric Adams Under FireIn a promotional video, Adams declared, “We’re about to change the game. This thing is about to take off like crazy.” However, the excitement was short-lived as evidence surfaced suggesting that the steep decline in value resulted from a significant sell-off involving a user connected to the NYC Token’s development team.
Although about $1.5 million was returned after the token’s value dropped by 60%, approximately $900,000 remains unreturned. This has led users on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to accuse Adams of orchestrating a crypto rug pull.
NYC Token Team Responds However, there remains uncertainty about the details surrounding the token’s launch, with a recently listed entity, C18 Digital, associated with the project. Delaware corporation records show that C18 Digital was incorporated on December 30, 2025.
As users began purchasing the token, they injected liquidity into the pool using USDC, which was followed by the significant withdrawal of $2.5 million. This tactic, described by analyst Vaiman, can be more subtle than direct token sell-offs.
Following the viral reports of the alleged rug pull, a new account associated with the NYC Token announced that additional funds had been injected into the liquidity pool.
Featured image from CNN, chart from TradingView.com
