A wallet linked to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ newly launched crypto token allegedly pocketed nearly $1 million through suspicious manipulation of a liquidity pool on Monday.<\/p>\n
The creator of the NYC token sent 80 million coins to an account that added the tokens as liquidity on a decentralized exchange.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That account then removed $2.43 million in USDC before adding back $1.5 million, leaving approximately $932,000 in unaccounted-for USDC liquidity, on-chain analytics platform Bubblemaps confirmed to Decrypt on Monday.<\/p>\n
The episode comes amid growing scrutiny of politician-backed cryptocurrencies, including meme coins, following last year\u2019s collapse of the LIBRA token<\/a> promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei, which led to fraud and racketeering class-action lawsuits.<\/p>\n Bubblemaps also identified<\/a> the suspicious activity, reporting that wallet 9Ty4M, associated with the NYC token deployer, created one-sided liquidity pools on Meteora.\u00a0<\/p>\n “This wallet then: removed ~$2.5M USDC at the peak, added back ~$1.5M USDC after a -60% drop,\u201d Bubblemaps reported.<\/p>\n “There has been no explanation for these liquidity moves,” Bubblemaps tweeted. “This is unfortunately reminiscent of the $LIBRA launch, where liquidity was also heavily manipulated.”<\/p>\n Former ‘Bitcoin Mayor’ Eric Adams Reveals NYC Token to Fight ‘Antisemitism and Anti-Americanism’<\/a><\/p>\n The former mayor announced the token<\/a> at a Times Square press conference on Monday, saying the project would address “antisemitism and anti-Americanism” using revenue generated by the token, while also teaching children “how to embrace the blockchain technology.”<\/p>\n The NYC token has a maximum supply of 1 billion tokens, with it representing \u201cthe spirit of New York City\u2014innovation, diversity, and the drive to succeed,\u201d according to the token\u2019s official website.<\/p>\n NYC surged to a $600 million market cap before crashing to around $110 million, according to Solscan data. The token\u2019s price has fallen by more than 81% from a peak of around $0.58 to just $0.11, data shows.<\/p>\n Decrypt has reached out to Eric Adams for comment.<\/p>\n President Milei\u2019s LIBRA token scandal led to frozen assets, investigations into fraud, and class-action lawsuits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Only 14% of LIBRA investors turned a profit, while 86% of those who invested in the token lost a combined $251 million, according to a report by Nansen.<\/p>\n Court filings in a U.S. class action lawsuit later named Meteora co-founder Benjamin Chow as the mastermind behind at least 15 token launches following an “identical blueprint,” including the high-profile MELANIA and LIBRA tokens.\u00a0<\/p>\n New York City’s ‘Bitcoin Mayor’ Eric Adams Drops Out of Race for Reelection<\/a><\/p>\n