Hawk Tuah girl Haliey Welch, the star of a viral meme, is facing criticism after her newly launched cryptocurrency nosedived in value. The “Hawk” digital coin hit $490m in market capitalization shortly after its launch on Wednesday but lost over 95% of its value within hours.
Investors and fans accused Ms Welch and her team of “misleading” and “betraying” them, suggesting the launch was a “rug pull.” Some, including YouTube cryptocurrency investigator Coffeezilla, claimed that Ms Welch’s team sold tokens before the launch to create hype. The team behind the coin, OverHere, denied these allegations.
Ms Welch responded on X, claiming her team had not sold any tokens and had attempted to prevent “snipers” from taking advantage of the situation. She previously distributed free Hawk tokens to some fans ahead of the launch across social media.
The criticism highlights the risks associated with meme coins, which are often viewed as less risky than more high-profile crypto assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum but carry similar dangers. Several celebrities and influencers who have ventured into the crypto market have faced similar backlash in the past.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89xvjkzzyvo