Former New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams is dealing with a whole lot of warmth at the moment after his high-profile launch of a brand new cryptocurrency, dubbed the NYC Token, crashed inside hours of launching. Adams launched the token on Monday, however the coin misplaced 80% of its worth inside a pair hours.
Adams unveiled the Solana-based token at a Occasions Sq. occasion on Monday, selling it as a software to generate funding for social causes together with the struggle towards antisemitism and “anti-Americanism,” in addition to blockchain schooling and pupil scholarships.
Eric Adams instructed Fox Enterprise that proceeds would assist nonprofits like Fight Antisemitism and traditionally Black faculties and universities with out elevating taxes.
The announcement got here lower than two weeks after Eric Adams left workplace as mayor, the place he had lengthy championed crypto adoption — together with changing his first mayoral paychecks into Bitcoin and different crypto and signing an govt order to advertise digital belongings.
A mayoral ‘pump and dump’ from Eric Adams
Investor curiosity was robust for the primary couple of hours following the coin’s launch, briefly driving the NYC Token’s market capitalization into the lots of of tens of millions of {dollars}. However inside hours of its debut, the token’s worth collapsed — dropping greater than 80% from its peak, in response to market information.
On-chain analysts and merchants rapidly accused the challenge of a rug pull, a state of affairs wherein insiders withdraw liquidity from a token to the detriment of bizarre buyers.
The coin hit $580 million in market cap earlier than crashing -80% in a matter of minutes. Almost $500 million in market cap was misplaced, as of earlier January 13.
Social media and buying and selling boards erupted with criticism. Many within the crypto area noticed this dump coming.
Some retail merchants accused the coin’s sample as a basic pump-and-dump scheme, whereas others questioned the token’s sparse disclosures, restricted technical particulars, and the absence of named companions or a working challenge roadmap.
The case for Bitcoin
Right here we go once more. This basic second and rug pull reveals the dangers inherent within the broader memecoin and altcoin market and makes a powerful argument for Bitcoin’s relative stability.
Initiatives like this are susceptible to giant liquidity withdrawals, both instantly after a token’s launch or because it reaches new highs. Reputation alone could make it simple to draw consumers, giving insiders a chance to promote. After they do, it usually triggers sharp worth drops and important investor losses — practices which are manipulative and, frankly, resemble a rip-off.
Bitcoin, in distinction, presents an extended monitor document, clear issuance, and decentralized governance. Its mounted provide and consensus mechanisms are its key to resilience, setting it other than short-lived tokens with concentrated management or opaque buildings.
Eric Adam’s token exemplifies recurring pitfalls we see in speculative, celebrity- or politically branded cash: opaque tokenomics, centralized provide, and sudden collapses that go away retail buyers uncovered.
Bitcoin’s structure is designed to mitigate these dangers by means of decentralized proof-of-work safety and a predictable issuance schedule. Bitcoin’s many years‑lengthy resilience has stood the take a look at of any speculative churn coming from memecoins.
Crypto pump-and-dump schemes like this one from Eric Adams actually spotlight why Bitcoin stands other than the broader crypto market.
