Former New York Mayor’s NYC memecoin rugpulls investors at launch, and the method used was shockingly brazen

The NYC memecoin, promoted by former New York Mayor Eric Adams, crashed over 81% within 30 minutes of its Jan. 12 launch on Solana, wiping out significant paper value. On-chain analysis by Bubblemaps revealed that a wallet linked to the token's deployer removed approximately $2.5 million in USDC from a one-sided liquidity pool near the peak price, before adding back only a portion, leaving a gap of about $932,000 unaccounted for. The token launch was tied to funding blockchain education and combating antisemitism, and X Community Notes flagged it as a 'rug pull.' The token suffered from extreme supply concentration, with the top five wallets holding 92% of the supply. This structure amplified slippage during exits. The incident occurs amid shifting regulatory postures where many memecoins avoid securities classification, leaving retail outcomes dependent on anti-fraud enforcement, which has been limited since an SEC staff statement warned that fraudulent conduct could still be pursued by other authorities. Adams, who has long promoted crypto, has not publicly accounted for the liquidity gap identified by investigators.

(Source：CryptoSlate)