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New York|Eric Adams Hawked a Crypto Coin. A Day Later, $1 Million Was Missing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/nyregion/adams-crypto-token-money.html
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Officials tied to the venture insisted no money had been stolen, but the withdrawal caused the coin’s value to plunge.
Jan. 13, 2026, 6:47 p.m. ET
Eric Adams was crowing as he stood in Times Square on Monday to launch his first post-mayoral venture, a New York City-themed crypto coin that he said would fund the fight against antisemitism.
“This thing is about to take off like crazy,” he boasted in an accompanying hype video.
That, somehow, turned out to be an understatement.
In the minutes after trading opened, the coin, NYC Token, rocketed to a market capitalization of nearly $600 million, then crashed almost as quickly after an account linked to the coin’s launch withdrew about $2.5 million in early proceeds without notice, unnerving investors.
By Tuesday morning, the account had returned some of the funds, but Mr. Adams was battling accusations from crypto enthusiasts that his NYC Token might be a so-called rug pull — a common crypto scheme in which someone markets a coin to the public, and then quickly siphons off significant profits.
The project’s leaders insisted no money had been stolen. Still, Mr. Adams called in Brock Pierce, a crypto investor and friend, to try to help salvage matters, according to Mr. Pierce.
This was not how Mr. Adams had hoped to begin his business career, especially after ethics scandals and his own federal criminal indictment cut his mayoralty off after a single term.
