A memecoin promoted by former New York City Mayor Eric Adams experienced a dramatic price collapse on Monday, leading to widespread accusations of a rug pull. The token, called NYC Token, was launched on the Solana blockchain.
According to data from Dexscreener, the memecoin quickly reached a market valuation of $540 million after its launch. Roughly thirty minutes later, its value plummeted by 80%, falling to approximately $87 million. At the time of reporting, its valuation stood at $128 million.
In a post on X, Eric Adams stated he was proud to launch the token, which he said was built to fight the rapid spread of antisemitism and anti-Americanism in the country and in New York City.
The sudden crash triggered immediate backlash on social media. Several popular accounts on X accused Adams of orchestrating a rug pull. Cryptocurrency analyst Emperor Osmo alleged that Adams removed liquidity from the token and made over $3 million from the activity.
Another on-chain analyst known as Rune made a similar claim, stating that the former mayor had removed the entire liquidity pool, amounting to $3,430,000. Users on X added a community note to Adams's promotional post, describing the action as a typical rug pull.
The team behind the NYC token issued a statement in response to the controversy. They said their partners had to rebalance the liquidity due to overwhelming demand for the memecoin. The team added that additional funds have since been added to the liquidity pool.
Benzinga reported that it reached out to Adams for comment on the allegations.