'Hawk Tuah' Girl's Crypto Coin Crashes 95% After Launch

Facts

• Hailey Welch, who gained fame from her viral 'hawk tuah' TikTok video, launched a cryptocurrency called $HAWK, which briefly reached a market capitalization of $500M before plummeting 95% within hours.^[1][2]
• Data from DEX Screener and Solscan showed that around 80-90% of the $HAWK supply was controlled by insiders or snipers, with one wallet acquiring 17.5% of the supply seconds after launch and profiting $1.3M in 90 minutes.^[3][4]
• Crypto YouTuber Stephen Findeisen, known as Coffeezilla, confronted Welch and her team in a live call on X Space, accusing them of insider trading and 'generate[ing] over a million dollars in fees, while [her] fans got rug pulled.'^[3][5]
• Welch stated her team had not sold any tokens and attempted to use 'high fees' to prevent snipers, while her management claimed the project aimed to avoid securities law violations by 'tokenizing' Welch's fan base.^[6][5][7]
• The incident has prompted Burwick Law, a cryptocurrency-focused law firm, to seek potential clients who lost money, while some investors have reportedly filed complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission.^[2][6]
• Before the launch, Welch told Fortune that while she previously viewed cryptocurrency as 'just a scam,' she changed her perspective after attending crypto conferences and now views it as a way to interact with fans.^[4][3]

Sources: ^[1]New York Post, ^[2]Forbes, ^[3]NBC, ^[4]Daily Mail, ^[5]Breitbart, ^[6]USA Today and ^[7]X.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Rolling Stone. Hailey Welch may have committed securities fraud here. Between the coin's rapid value collapse, insider trading allegations, and concentrated token ownership, it certainly looks like a potential 'pump-and-dump' scheme. Welch's financial stake, including a $125K advance and profit-sharing deal, raises concerns about undisclosed conflicts of interest. An investigation is needed to protect investors and ensure accountability.
• Narrative B, as provided by American Spectator. There's no doubt that this was a pump-and-dump scheme and should act as a cautionary tale for anyone thinking of investing lots of money in meme coins. Like so many meme coins before it, Welch, her team, and the profiteers with inside knowledge capitalized on ordinary people's financial nativity and fear of missing out. No matter how much you love a celebrity, it's important to remember that their crypto ventures are for their benefit, not yours.

Predictions