Kanye West Said Memecoins ‘Prey On Fans.’ Then He Apparently Launched One

Kanye West, the hip-hop creator who goes by Ye, appears to person launched his ain cryptocurrency, YZY, sparking a riot of trading activity.

In February, West rejected nan thought that he mightiness motorboat a crypto coin. “I’M NOT DOING A COIN,” he wrote, successful a since-deleted post connected X. “COINS PREY ON THE FANS WITH HYPE.” He seems to person changed his mind.

On Wednesday evening, West’s X relationship announced nan YZY coin successful 2 posts. “The charismatic Yeezy token conscionable dropped,” said West, successful a strangely deadpan video clip that immoderate X users speculated was AI-generated.

As traders piled in, nan coin’s insubstantial worth surged to $3 billion, past plummeted by two-thirds successful nan span of 3 hours arsenic early investors cashed out. Since nan commencement of trading, investors person placed more than $740 million worthy of trades. The mostly of traders person recorded losses, collectively losing much than $20 million, says blockchain analytics institution Nansen.

Winner of much than 20 Grammy Awards, West has go progressively unmoored and erratic successful his behaviour successful caller years. Most infamously, West made a bid of antisemitic remarks successful 2022 that drew wide condemnation and led Adidas to abandon a lucrative partnership pinch his creation label. In May, he released a euphony video entitled “Heil Hitler.”

The YZY coin is supposedly portion of a grander constellation of products called YZY Money, which besides purports to see a crypto payments work and debit card. “YZY Money is simply a conception to put you successful control, free from centralized authority,” nan website claims.

According to nan website, 20 percent of nan YZY proviso has been released, 10 percent has been pooled connected exchanges to let for soft trading, while nan remaining 70 percent is held by Yeezy Investments LLC. The institution cannot summation entree to those coins for astatine slightest 3 months, a communal believe meant to forestall issuers from dumping their holdings and sinking nan value of a coin.

It is unclear who controls Yeezy Investments, which is registered successful Delaware and truthful not required to disclose its ownership structure. Yeezy Investments operates nan YZY Money website nether a licence granted by Ox Paha Inc., a institution done which West manages his intelligence property, nan position and conditions state.

Typically, rookie crypto traders are warned distant from coins whose proviso is concentrated successful nan hands of a mini number of parties, for fearfulness they mightiness waste disconnected their holdings en masse, driving down nan value of nan coin.

“You person to see longer down nan line,” says Nicolai Søndergaard, investigation expert astatine Nansen. “Let’s opportunity each tokens unlock successful 2 years, you mightiness not want to beryllium successful a token astatine that point. You could reasonably presume location would beryllium a sell-off.”

Patterns successful nan trading activity successful nan minutes aft nan YZY coin announcement person led to further questions astir nan integrity of nan launch.