By Caitlin Ostroff and Katherine Long and Vicky Ge Huang

The value of a cryptocurrency launched Monday by former New York City Mayor Eric Adams went into free fall after one of its creators pulled about $2.5 million from the project hours after its debut, according to blockchain analysts.

Adams announced the cryptocurrency, called NYC Token, on Monday, billing it as a way to bring New York to non-New Yorkers, as well as to "fight the rapid spread of antisemitism and anti-Americanism across this country."

A promotional video showed Adams riding through the city in a taxi. "You got some of that New York City token?" the cabdriver asked. "We'll get you some, brother," Adams replied. "This thing is about to take off like crazy."

At a press conference Monday launching the token, Adams said he was one of its creators, and that he wouldn't take a salary.

Within hours of launching, the total value of outstanding tokens had risen to $600 million, according to crypto-analytics platform Bubblemaps, which said that roughly 4,000 traders bought in.

On Monday, one of the token's creators withdrew $2.5 million worth of cryptocurrency from a pool of coins that had been established to facilitate trading. The token soon lost 60% of its value. About $1.5 million was later restored to the pool, but the price hasn't recovered.

It couldn't be determined who specifically took the funds out and why. Adams has been the only promoter of the token, though it isn't known what his personal stake is. The identities of others who would have access to the funds aren't publicly known.

The NYC Token team "has not sold any tokens and is subject to lockups and transfer restrictions. THE TEAM HAS NOT WITHDRAWN ANY MONEY FROM THE ACCOUNT," Elissa Buchter, a spokesperson for NYC Token, said in a statement. Buchter didn't respond to questions about who, besides Adams, was involved in creating the token.

During token launches, money typically remains in designated liquidity pools to facilitate trading. In this instance, according to Bubblemaps, the creators initially filled the pool with NYC Tokens, which were swapped with a stable dollar-backed cryptocurrency, USD Coin, as purchases came in.

A statement posted by the NYC Token X account said the funds were withdrawn to rebalance liquidity, adding "We're in it for the long haul!"

Adams, who was elected as a Democrat, was indicted by federal prosecutors on five felony counts in 2024 related to the influence of Turkish nationals on his mayoral campaign, including for bribery, fraud and soliciting a contribution by a foreign national. Adams denied wrongdoing and called the charges politically motivated. A few months after President Trump won the 2024 election, the Justice Department ordered New York prosecutors to drop the charges, and a judge eventually dismissed the case.

A company called C18 Digital operates the token's website, the site says. A Delaware entity with that name was incorporated on December 30.

NYC Token traded at 13 cents per coin at 3 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, down from more than 50 cents Monday night.

Adams is the most recent politician to launch a token. Trump and first lady Melania Trump launched meme coins, tokens that typically have no utility, just days before his return to the White House. The coins quickly shot up in value at their launch but since have lost steam. Trump has also engaged in a number of other crypto projects. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said that neither Trump nor his family have ever engaged in conflicts of interest.

The withdrawal from NYC Token's liquidity pool prompted backlash from crypto traders, who have accused it of being a "rug pull," in which investors deposit money into a crypto project only for its creators to quickly cash out.

"If the rebalancing was to be legitimate, it would have been announced beforehand," said Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at crypto analytics firm Nansen. "What they did effectively trapped traders, forcing many to sell at a loss in a lower liquidity environment, and adding liquidity back in does not undo the damage done."

Adams has previously sought to position himself as a champion of the cryptocurrency industry. After he was elected, he promised to take his first three paychecks in bitcoin and has pledged to make New York City the "the crypto capital of the globe."

Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com, Katherine Long at katherine.long@wsj.com and Vicky Ge Huang at vicky.huang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 13, 2026 17:50 ET (22:50 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.