Former NYC Mayor Eric Adam Says He Did Not Profit From NYC Memecoin Launch
The team behind the NYC Token has pushed back against reports alleging that former New York City mayor Eric Adams moved user funds through the , calling the claims false and unsupported.
In a statement attributed to Todd Shapiro, spokesperson for Eric Adams, the allegations were as “inaccurate” and lacking any evidence. The statement stressed that Adams did not move investor funds, did not profit from the token’s launch, and that no funds were removed from the NYC Token.
“Recent reports alleging that Eric Adams moved money out of the NYC Token are false and unsupported by any evidence,” the statement read. It added that Adams’ involvement in the initiative was public, transparent, and focused on education, blockchain literacy, and supporting nonprofit and civic causes, not personal financial gain.
The spokesperson also noted that the NYC Token, like many newly launched digital assets, experienced market volatility, but maintained that Adams consistently emphasized transparency, accountability, and responsible innovation.
Alongside the spokesperson’s statement, the NYC Token team concerns raised in the project’s comment sections, particularly around liquidity movements following the token’s launch.
According to the team, the strong demand and support at launch required partners to rebalance liquidity. They acknowledged reports flagging transactions that appeared to remove liquidity from the pool but explained that the team initiated TWAP (Time-Weighted Average Price) strategies and added additional funds to the liquidity pool to stabilize trading.
“Given the overwhelming support and demand for the token at launch, our partners had to rebalance the liquidity,” the team said. “We are aware of reports flagging the transactions removing liquidity from the pool. The team commenced the funds for TWAP and added additional funds to the liquidity pool. We’re in it for the long haul.”
Commentators Allege Rug Pull Despite Official Denials
Despite the NYC Token team and Eric Adams’ spokesperson strongly denying any wrongdoing, several on-chain analysts and commentators have continued to insist that the launch showed classic signs of a rug pull.
A pseudonymous X user, Rune Crypto, was among the most vocal, claiming in a post that, “Eric Adams, former NYC mayor, has just removed liquidity of his new memecoin, $NYC, scamming investors for over $2,536,301.” He added that the token was launched and promoted on Adams’ social media before liquidity was allegedly pulled, describing the move as deceptive.
Rune with another post stating, “Eric Adams has now drained over $3,400,000 from the liquidity pool of his memecoin: it’s now a rug-pull,” while also questioning Adams’ financial capacity by noting that his reported net worth was “only $2,000,000.”
He added that the drained funds were being transferred to a to prevent tracking. Although, these claim has not been independently verified.
These posts rapidly gained traction and fueled speculation across crypto Twitter, amplifying fears of a coordinated exit.
Adding to the scrutiny, data analytics platform Bubblemaps, a post-mortem analysis by suggests the scale of the alleged rug pull may be more severe than initially thought.
The data indicates that over 60% of the roughly 4,300 traders involved reportedly lost money. A breakdown of the losses shows that the majority were smaller retail participants, with 2,300 traders losing under $1,000, while 15 traders recorded losses of over $100,000, highlighting the uneven impact across participants.
