Haliey Welch, a viral web persona referred to as the Hawk Tuah Woman, finds herself embroiled in controversy following the launch of her memecoin HAWK on the Solana blockchain.
The token’s speedy rise and fall have drawn sharp criticism from the crypto group, with accusations of unethical practices that would entice regulatory attraction.
HAWK memecoin
On Dec. 4, the memecoin debuted on the Solana blockchain to a lot acclaim and, in a matter of minutes, surged to a $500 million market cap, solely to nosedive to as little as $60 million shortly after.
This unstable efficiency left many traders fuming as hypothesis grew that the token may need been designed for a pump-and-dump scheme—a tactic wherein malicious builders revenue from artificially inflated costs earlier than abandoning the mission.
Blockchain evaluation from Bubblemaps confirmed additional regarding particulars about HAWK’s launch. In response to the agency, almost 96% of the token’s provide was reportedly managed by insider wallets. Such concentrated holdings are sometimes related to market manipulation, additional fueling skepticism in regards to the token’s legitimacy.
In an X Areas hosted by the mission’s group, on-chain investigator Coffeezilla slammed Welch and her group for insider buying and selling. He acknowledged:
“You guys generated over 1,000,000 {dollars} in charges, whereas your followers bought rug pulled. There have been snipers, however there was additionally insider buying and selling immediately linked to your creator accounts.”
The HAWK state of affairs was paying homage to earlier movie star token launches on Solana that failed. Earlier this 12 months, a number of artists and influencers issued tokens throughout a short pattern, however many of those belongings misplaced virtually all their worth inside hours and days.
Critics argue that the HAWK token has adopted the same trajectory, highlighting the dangers of investing in unproven celebrity-endorsed tokens.
Authorized fallout
The token’s collapse has triggered outrage throughout social media, with some customers reporting the incident to regulatory authorities.
In the meantime, a number of traders declare to have filed complaints with the US Securities and Change Fee (SEC), whereas regulation companies supply authorized assist to those that incurred losses. One agency, Burwick Regulation, publicly inspired affected events to return ahead and discover their choices for recourse.
Including to the uproar, crypto group members created a satirical token known as “Straight Tuah Jail,” insinuating that Welch ought to face accountability for the token’s failure. These developments counsel potential authorized challenges for Welch and her group shortly.
Welch’s response
In her protection, Welch denied any wrongdoing in a Dec. 5 put up on X (previously Twitter), stating that her group had not bought tokens and that no influential figures had acquired free allocations.
Welch defined that they launched HAWK utilizing Meteora, a decentralized liquidity protocol, to discourage snipers. She wrote:
“Group hasn’t bought one token and never 1 KOL was given 1 free token We tried to cease snipers as finest we might by way of excessive charge’s within the begin of launch.”
Over Right here, a platform collaborating with Welch on the launch, echoed her statements. They clarified that the tokenomics had been designed with transparency and that Welch’s group bought no tokens.
In addition they famous that her group’s 10% token allocation is locked for one 12 months and topic to a three-year vesting schedule.
Regardless of these assurances, the controversy raises questions in regards to the dangers related to celebrity-endorsed crypto initiatives.
