Add Haliey Welch, the viral “Hawk Tuah” star, to the growing list of influencers uncertainty in the crypto space.
The meme personality has a massive backlash after her new cryptocurrency, Hawk, a nasal from a $490 million market cap to just $60 million in just hours.
The crypto community, including YouTuber “Coffeezilla” (real name Stephen Findeisen), accuses Welch of running a “pump and dump” scheme, where hype drives the price up, just to cash out owners and leave investors hanging.
Welch denied any wrongdoing. In a post on social media, she said her team was “trying to stop snipers,” the bad actors who artificially inflate prices by buying large amounts early, creating an illusion request.
A community note on Welch X's post pointed out that Welch's team had been “selling the token since launch. “
At last check on Saturday, the Hawk Tuah coin was down more than 7%. Just minutes earlier, it was up 0.45%.
What's at stake and did Hawk Tuah Girl make a profit?
Sniping causes ordinary investors to buy into a token at a high price, thinking they are catching a rising trend.
After snipers sell their holdings, the price of the token falls off a cliff, leaving late investors holding nearly worthless assets.
Hawk launched on the Solana blockchain, and while meme coins are usually seen as a low-risk sport, this one has sparked accusations of rug pullinga cryptocurrency scam in which developers withdraw liquidity or suddenly abandon a project, leading to a drop in the price of the token.
In a YouTube video posted on December 5th, Coffeezilla – which has made a name for itself by investigating the validity of influencer-backed coins (ie, Andrew Tate) – he noted
Welch, who made his name by pretending to spit into a virus videosaying the coin was intended to unite fans and deal with traitors.
Unfortunately, it seems that the only thing united is the confusion. A recorded back-and-forth between Coffeezilla and Welch's legal representative, which currently has more than 2.7 million views on YouTube, reveals what appears to be a complex payment structure for Welch and the coin inspired by Hawk Axe.
Welch, according to Coffeezilla citing comments from its representatives, was paid about $125,000 upfront by an unnamed company to market the Hawk Tuah brand. After that she expected to receive 50% of the money after “paying fees to third parties,” Coffeezilla said.
Details about the third parties are still unclear. Crypto.news has reached out to Welch for comment, but has not heard back.
“I think this whole situation is terrible and she should feel bad,” Coffeezilla concluded. “(Welch) got into bed with these people who clearly saw signs dollar. She saw dollar signs and they did this and people got hurt.”
See Coffeezilla's previous presentation.
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