Former New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams is dealing with a number of warmth as we speak 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 combat towards antisemitism and “anti-Americanism,” in addition to blockchain schooling and pupil scholarships.
Eric Adams advised 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 government order to advertise digital property.
A mayoral ‘pump and dump’ from Eric Adams
Investor curiosity was sturdy for the primary couple of hours following the coin’s launch, briefly driving the NYC Token’s market capitalization into the a whole bunch 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 knowledge.
On-chain analysts and merchants shortly accused the mission of a rug pull, a situation through which insiders withdraw liquidity from a token to the detriment of atypical traders.
The coin hit $580 million in market cap earlier than crashing -80% in a matter of minutes. Practically $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 house noticed this dump coming.
Some retail merchants accused the coin’s sample as a traditional pump-and-dump scheme, whereas others questioned the token’s sparse disclosures, restricted technical particulars, and the absence of named companions or a working mission roadmap.
The case for Bitcoin
Right here we go once more. This traditional 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.
Tasks like this are liable to giant liquidity withdrawals, both instantly after a token’s launch or because it reaches new highs. Reputation alone could make it straightforward to draw patrons, giving insiders a possibility to promote. Once 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 constructions.
Eric Adam’s token exemplifies recurring pitfalls we see in speculative, celebrity- or politically branded cash: opaque tokenomics, centralized provide, and sudden collapses that depart retail traders uncovered.
Bitcoin’s structure is designed to mitigate these dangers by 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.