Eric Adams rugs crypto community. Credit: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images.
Key Takeaways
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Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams launched a token to combat antisemitism and promote blockchain education.
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The token surged to a market cap of approximately $580-600 million shortly after its launch.
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Not long after launch, the token crashed nearly 80% following a rug pull.
Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has found himself back in the headlines — and not in the way he once hoped.
Adams, who spent years publicly embracing crypto and even took his first mayoral paychecks in Bitcoin (BTC), is now facing accusations from the crypto community that his newly-launched NYC token amounted to a rug pull.
The controversy marks a sharp reversal for a politician once celebrated as a pro-crypto champion and adds to a growing trail of scrutiny that has followed him beyond City Hall.
Adams unveiled the “NYC Token” on Jan. 12, pitching it as a crypto-powered initiative to fund social causes without raising taxes.
In a series of posts, Adams said the token would support efforts to combat antisemitism and anti-Americanism.
The former Mayor also aimed to promote blockchain education and fund scholarships and awareness programs using the token.
He framed the project as part of his post-mayoral push to position New York City as a global crypto hub, with proceeds earmarked for nonprofits, including advocacy groups, HBCUs, and blockchain literacy initiatives aimed at underserved communities.
The launch initially drew intense attention.
Fueled by Adams’ public profile and social media promotion, the NYC token’s market capitalization surged to nearly $600 million within minutes of going live.
The rally, however, unraveled just as quickly.
Eric Adams’ NYC token plunges 81%. Credit: TradingView
Roughly 30 minutes after launch, the token’s value collapsed by about 81%, falling to around $100 million in market capitalization and wiping out nearly $500 million in paper value.
The sudden reversal sparked immediate backlash across the crypto community.
Many labeled the episode a classic “rug pull” — a scenario in which insiders drain liquidity, leaving retail buyers holding steep losses.
On-chain data supports those concerns.
Analysis shows that a wallet linked to the token’s deployer removed approximately $2.43 million in USDC liquidity shortly after the peak.
About $1.5 million was later returned, leaving roughly $932,000 unaccounted for. Other estimates put the total liquidity extraction even higher, at around $3.43 million.
Reports suggest that Adams or affiliated wallets may have collected more than $2.5 million in fees through a dynamic liquidity market maker (DLMM) structure.
Eric Adams’ tenure as New York City mayor from 2022 to 2025 — and his subsequent political career — has been marked by repeated controversies.
Adams has repeatedly vowed to turn New York City into a global crypto hub. However, that ambition often drew criticism over conflicts of interest and questionable judgment.
He cast himself as a crypto champion early on, famously converting his first mayoral paycheck into Bitcoin to signal his commitment to the industry.
That image began to fray in 2023, when Adams failed to disclose his crypto holdings in required city financial filings.
The omission raised concerns about transparency and ethics, particularly given his vocal advocacy for the crypto industry.
In May 2025, Adams faced further scrutiny after using a city-funded trip to a Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas to raise campaign money from crypto investors.
The trip, which included appearances by New York City’s top tech official, blurred the line between official duties and political fundraising.
Adams also proposed a New York City–backed token, drawing inspiration from MiamiCoin.
Critics argued that these actions treated crypto as a political prop, downplayed real financial risks, and gambled with the city’s reputation.
Beyond crypto, serious legal troubles overshadowed Adams’ tenure.
In September 2024, he became the first sitting New York City mayor to be indicted on federal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., wire fraud, soliciting foreign campaign contributions, and bribery.
Crypto has increasingly become a political talking point over the past five years. Candidates across the spectrum are promising pro-crypto policies to court a growing voter base.
In many cases, however, those promises have fallen flat, reinforcing criticism that crypto is often used more as a campaign tool than a genuine policy priority.
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