The viral “Hawk Tuah” girl has launched her own memecoin cryptocurrency on the Solana blockchain, but fans aren't happy.
Haliey Welch famously went viral in June after she was interviewed by street YouTubers and gave a very funny response to their NSFW question about making a man go crazy in bed.
Welch has since capitalised on her internet success, making podcast appearances, trademarking the phrase that made her famous and generally trying to stay in the public consciousness.
The 22-year-old has now launched a memecoin – a kind of cryptocurrency that often goes viral on social media sites and references memorable or current online culture moments.
The currency is called “HAWK” and Welch explained to Fortune that she wants her token to change people’s perception of cryptocurrency and insists it’s “not just a cash grab”.
However, the social media star is already facing backlash over the launch after the value crashed by over 90 per cent in a matter of hours.
When it launched on Wednesday (4 December), at a price of $0.005492, it quickly rose over 900 per cent in value, according to the Crypto Times. But, within hours, it had already plummeted by 91 per cent.
Data reveals that some were able to make a large profit, selling more than 135 million HAWK tokens and making a reported $1.3 million from one trade.
But, some users have complained after claiming that a large supply of the tokens was owned by 10 “connected” insiders and snipers who have been selling them off since they launched.
It has even been suggested that Welch may face legal action as several investors said they have filed complaints with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
A community note on one of Welch’s X/Twitter posts claimed: “96 per cent of the $HAWK supply is in 10 connected addresses before the launch.”
Welch also claimed in another post that none of her “team” had sold any HAWK tokens, but blockchain data shared online in another community note appears to discredit that.
The community note mocked: “Hailey is lying and will likely have to ‘talk tuah’ judge about this.”
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