Kanye West’s newly launched meme coin has already surged past a $2 billion market cap, but unusual trading patterns point to heavy insider activity, sparking red flags for investors.
Popular American rapper Kanye West ventured into the crypto sector and launched a new meme coin, dubbed YZY Money (YZY), on the Solana blockchain.
Kanye West Token Launch
The launch comes several months after the rapper teased the YZY launch. He first revealed plans for the meme coin project in late February, following an extended period of social media activity where he frequently referenced “crypto” and “coin” in various posts.
This led to the temporary suspension of his X account. When he returned to X, the rapper appeared to have lost interest in pursuing the project, as he deleted every related post.
However, he stunned his 33.1 million followers yesterday when he announced the launch of YZY Money alongside its contract address.
Notably, YZY is the utility token of the YZY Money ecosystem. Other projects expected to roll out in the ecosystem include a payment processor called YZY Pay and a debit card, YZY Card.
Controversies Surrounding YZY Launch
Despite launching only a few hours ago, the token’s fully diluted valuation reached a peak of $2.41 billion. However, data on top holders and trading patterns strongly suggest insider activity.
Notably, the top six holders of YZY hold about 90.3% of the token’s 1 billion supply. Also, several blockchain addresses that were aware of YZY before the token’s public launch positioned themselves early by purchasing the token at an extremely low price.
One of such addresses is 2DNb2…f8nha. This address mistakenly acquired the fake YZY token a few days before the original token launched.
Lookonchain called the public’s attention to the address, noting that the user splashed 4,216 SOL ($768,000) to purchase 27.72 million YZY tokens. Upon realizing the mistake, the user dumped the entire 27.72 million YZY tokens four hours later, losing $710,000 of his capital.
Following the public launch of the original YZY token, the same user spent another $761,000 worth of USDC to acquire the real token, netting a profit of more than $710,000 and recouping his initial loss.
Another alleged insider wallet, 6MNWV…BF3Yx, also knew the token before its public launch. The address purchased 1.29 million YZY tokens for an aggregate cost of $450,611 worth of USDC. A few hours later, the address sold 1.04 million YZY for $1.39 million. The value of the remaining 249,907 YZY tokens had recorded a profit of more than $1.5 million, according to Lookonchain data.
Further, another insider purchased 1.89 million YZY across two blockchain wallets for $450,000. This user made the purchase when YZY was priced at $0.24. According to Lookonchain, the user even paid a priority fee of 129 SOL, worth around $24,000, for the purchase.
With the price soaring to $2.12, the user sold 1.59 million of his holdings for $3.37 million. The remaining 303,425 tokens were worth around $510,000 at the time of publication.
An insider spent 450K $USDC to buy 1.89M $YZY at $0.24 via 2 wallets, then sold 1.59M $YZY for 3.37M $USDC at $2.12.
He still holds 303,425 $YZY($510K), with a profit of over $3.4M (+760%).
To ensure he got in first, one wallet even paid 129 $SOL($24K) in priority fees.… pic.twitter.com/HaUeEjcmSC
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 21, 2025
Industry Stakeholders Warn Retail Traders
In the meantime, several industry stakeholders have warned retail traders to exercise caution and avoid getting scammed. Lookonchain emphasized that the team behind the token only added YZY to the liquidity pool, with no USDC.
Based on this, the on-chain tracker warned that the developers may add or remove liquidity at will, just as was done with the LIBRA token. The presence of several insiders also puts regular traders who got in late at risk.
Additionally, Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, quoted Kanye West’s token launch announcement to warn retail investors. The industry stakeholder reminded traders that the Official Trump meme coin also surged for four days following its announcement tweet, only to crash 88% from its peak.
FYI, $TRUMP coin rallied for 4 days after the launch tweet, then dropped 88% from its peak. https://t.co/JdjVpPK6OH pic.twitter.com/UvDDtDya2H
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) August 21, 2025
Like TRUMP, YZY also spiked tremendously after the announcement, with its market cap peaking at $2.41 billion. Its valuation has dropped to $1.08 billion in the hours leading up to press time, with a token currently worth $1.08.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author’s personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.