Kanye West’s Yeezy Money token launched on Solana with promises of a payments revolution, only to face insider concentration concerns.
U.S. hip-hop provocateur Kanye West, known as Ye, has launched a Solana-based token called Yeezy Money (YZY), teasing a sprawling crypto payments ecosystem that puts his brand — and his fans’ wallets — squarely in the spotlight.
In a Thursday announcement on X, West wrote: “Yeezy Money is here… A new economy, built on chain,” sharing the token’s contract address and a link to a website for buying, selling, and sending YZY.
The YZY ecosystem, according to West’s website, includes “Ye Pay,” a payment processor allowing merchants to accept credit and crypto payments, and the “YZY Card,” a non-custodial debit card for spending YZY tokens and stablecoins like USDC and USDT at merchants worldwide.
As of now, YZY appears as a checkout option on West’s official merchandise site, though it is not yet functional.
Only 15% of Traders Profit
The token’s debut was turbulent. YZY briefly surged to a $3 billion market capitalization within 40 minutes of its launch before retreating to around $1.05 billion, according to Dexscreener.
Analytics firm Nansen shared data with The Defiant showing that over 60,000 wallets traded YZY within the first day. Of these, only 9,413 wallets realized profits of more than $10.
There are also clear signs of fading memecoin hype as YZY logged just $724 million in first-day trading, well below the $29.5 billion generated during the debut of U.S. President Donald Trump’s memecoin.
Concerns about insider concentration quickly followed. Coinbase director Conor Grogan noted in an X post that a large portion of the token supply was initially held by insiders, with one multi-signature wallet controlling as much as 87% at one point.
Despite these accusations, YZY is trading at a $1 billion valuation, according to data from the Jupiter decentralized crypto exchange.
West’s entry into crypto marks a stark shift from his earlier statements. In February, he rejected the idea of launching a coin, saying memecoins “prey on fans with hype,” and revealed he had turned down a $2 million offer to promote a fake Ye token.