Online star faces criticism over crypto coins

Haliey Welch, known primarily as the star of the viral “Hawk Tuah” meme, is facing criticism after her newly launched cryptocurrency lost value.

Its digital coin “Hawk” reached a market capitalization of $490 million shortly after its launch on Wednesday, before suddenly losing more than 95% of its value in a matter of hours.

This has led some, including YouTube cryptocurrency investigator Coffeezilla, to accuse Ms. Welch of scamming investors with a “pump and dump” – where the people behind a coin drive up its price before its launch, then sell it for profit.

She denied allegations that her team sold any of the tokens they owned.

The BBC has contacted Ms Welch’s representatives for comment.

“The team did not sell a single token,” she wrote in a statement. copy and paste the message on (formerly Twitter) Wednesday.

She added that no “KOLs” (key opinion leaders) received a free token.

Ms Welch had already handed out free Hawk tokens to some fans ahead of the social media launch.

Hawk launched on the Solana blockchain on Wednesday around 22:00 GMT, and its market capitalization reached a high of $490 million shortly after.

However, it fell sharply from that high to around $60 million just 20 minutes later.

Fans and investors accused Ms Welch and her team of “misleading” and “betraying” them, and suggested the launch was a “sweepstakes” – where promoters of a cryptocurrency attract buyers, only to stop their business activities and run away with money. collected through sales.

A community note on Ms. Welch’s X post disputes her explanation, saying her team has been selling out of its Hawk parts since launch.

Coffeezilla, whose real name is Stephen Findeisen, also claimed that Hawk gave an advantage to “insiders.”

“Unfortunately in situations like this they are not targeting crypto bros, they are mainly targeting true fans who have never been involved in the crypto space before,” he said in a video viewed more than 1.4 million times.

He accused Ms Welch’s team of “taking advantage of a coin toss”.

“These people were not willing to take any responsibility” for the “Hawk Tuah scam,” he claimed, after sharing a clip of him speaking to some of the people behind the cryptocurrency.

Ms. Welch’s post on gap between buy and sell prices – sometimes using automated trading tools. – by imposing higher fees on an exchange.

The team behind the cryptocurrency, OverHere, has dismissed other claims regarding the launch. in an X post.

He pointed out that “Haliey’s team sold absolutely no tokens.”

Meme coins like this have gained popularity because of their wacky, cheap appeal to investors.

They are often considered less risky than more high-profile crypto assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum, but carry the same dangers – with often no protection for those who lose money with them.

Carol Alexander, professor of finance at the University of Sussex, told the BBC on Thursday that even though more and more young people are investing in meme coins, many of them are losing money.

Several celebrities or influencers who have ventured into the crypto market have faced similar backlash.

In 2021, Kim Kardashian was fined $1.26 million by US regulators after failing to reveal that she had been paid to post an ad for a cryptocurrency system called EthereumMax.

Most recently, YouTuber Logan Paul was accused of misleading fans by promoting crypto coins or investments. without disclosing its own financial interests therein.

Known online as the “Hawk Tuah girl,” Ms. Welch went viral after uttering the onomatopoeia “hawk tuah” — imitating the sound of someone spitting — during an interview in June.

It made the 22-year-old from Belfast, Tennessee, an overnight internet sensation.

She has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers across various social platforms and launched her own products as well as a podcast called “Talk Tuah”.

His manager told The Hollywood Reporter in July that she was unique in that she did not seek internet fame and left social media for mental health reasons for several months before appearing in the now-viral “Hawk Tuah” video.

Rolling Stone compared her funny, small-town personality to a “Gen Z Dolly Parton.”

Welch told media outlet TMZ ahead of Hawk’s launch on Wednesday that she started it to combat “a bunch of impostors” posing as her and selling their own pieces.

“It’s a really good way to get all my fans and my community to interact and come together,” she said.