Kanye West, now known as Ye, officially entered crypto with the launch of his YZY token on Solana. The debut was explosive: prices shot up 1,400% within the first hour, hitting $3 before crashing back to $0.77 in less than a day.
While retail traders rushed in hoping for quick profits, insiders and snipers dominated the market. Data shows that of the first 99 buyers, only nine are still holding their tokens, while the rest dumped for massive gains.
Winners Walk Away, Retail Left Behind
The on-chain data raises major red flags. According to analytics firm Nansen, 13 wallets each made over $1 million, pulling in a combined profit of more than $24 million. The top 10 wallets alone pocketed $18 million.
Meanwhile, regular investors suffered brutal losses. One wallet lost $1.8 million, another $1.2 million, and thousands of small traders saw their funds vanish. Over 14,000 wallets lost up to $500 each—roughly the size of a monthly paycheck for many retail traders—while hundreds of others are down between $10K and $100K.
Insiders Hold All the Cards
Insiders currently control around 90% of the token’s supply, with 70% sitting in Yeezy Investments LLC. While large allocations to founding teams are not uncommon in new projects, such heavy concentration leaves everyday buyers extremely vulnerable to sudden dumps.
Ye’s team has not provided a detailed roadmap or utility for YZY beyond its branding, raising concerns that the project may be more about hype than long-term community building.
Snipers Strike Again
Blockchain investigators say the winners were no accident. Bubblemaps revealed that YZY’s earliest buyers were tied to a known sniper who also profited heavily off Trump’s memecoin launch. These wallets appear to be part of an “elite group” that coordinates trades rather than competing, targeting celebrity tokens to drain liquidity.
One figure linked under the alias “Naseem” was also tied to the controversial LIBRA token scheme, which pulled tens of millions. The evidence suggests YZY’s market was captured from the start.
Fan-Made Tokens Crushed
The launch of YZY also devastated two fan-made imitators, Yeezy Coin (4NBT) and Swasticoin. For six months, their communities believed Ye was secretly backing them, interpreting his social media posts as hidden signals.
But once YZY was confirmed as the official token, those imitators collapsed. Yeezy Coin plunged 94% from its highs, while Swasticoin lost over 99% of its market value. Beyond financial loss, these projects also drew criticism for promoting antisemitic rhetoric and conspiracy theories, intensifying controversy around Ye’s crypto debut.
A Dark Side of Celebrity Tokens
YZY’s dramatic pump-and-dump follows a now-familiar pattern seen with celebrity-backed tokens. From Hailey Welch’s HAWK coin to projects linked to Kim Kardashian and Iggy Azalea, these launches often enrich insiders while leaving retail traders devastated.
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, summed up the collapse with a jab: “Oopsie… fam next time pls don’t let me trade shitters like YZY.”
For Ye’s fans, the token’s debut was supposed to mark a new chapter. Instead, it became another cautionary tale. YZY may be the biggest celebrity coin flop yet—but unless regulators step in, it almost certainly won’t be the last.
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FAQs
The token’s price soared 1,400% to $3 within an hour before crashing over 70% to $0.77 in less than a day.
A small group of insiders and snipers made massive gains, with 13 wallets each earning over $1 million for a combined profit of $24 million.
It’s a form of market manipulation where insiders artificially inflate a token’s price with hype, then sell their holdings at the peak, causing the price to crash.
Risks include heavy insider control, lack of a clear utility or roadmap, price manipulation, and the high potential for a pump-and-dump scheme.