Haliey Welch, otherwise known as the Hawk Tuah Girl, has found herself in some hot water after people allegedly lost a lot of money buying her cryptocurrency.
The 22-year-old became a viral sensation earlier this year after a joke propelled her to stardom.
For those who live under a rock, Welch was asked to describe one thing that can drive a man wild in the bedroom.
As her name suggests, she responded: “You gotta give it that hawk tuah, and spit on that thing.”
From this one joke, Welch now has a large social media following and hosts a popular podcast called Talk Tuah.
However, even though 2024 was a great year for Welch, it’s ending on a bit of a sour note as people aren’t thrilled with her.
The star launched her own meme coin, $HAWK, earlier this week, attempting to leverage her online fame into the crypto market.
However, the coin’s rapid rise and dramatic fall have left fans and investors reeling, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Meme coins, cryptocurrencies inspired by internet memes, have gained massive popularity in recent years, often starting as jokes but now holding significant financial value.
Welch’s $HAWK coin appeared to follow a similar trajectory at first.
It soared to a market capitalization of $490 million shortly after its launch on Wednesday, only to plummet by 91% within three hours, according to CoinTelegraph.
The sharp downturn has sparked accusations from fans and the crypto community, with some suggesting the collapse may have been caused by “crypto snipers” — traders who rapidly buy and sell new tokens to exploit volatility.
Speculation about insider trading has intensified following data from cryptocurrency analytics platforms.
Reports from Dexscreener and Coinspeaker revealed that insider wallets and snipers controlled 80-90% of $HAWK’s initial supply.
One wallet reportedly acquired 17.5% of the token’s supply mere seconds after launch and sold it off within 90 minutes, netting a $1.3 million profit, according to Solscanner.
Well, let’s just say people are not happy.
“I am a huge fan of Hawk Tuah but you took my life savings,” one person said on X.
They continued: “I purchased your coin $Hawk that you were so excited about with my life savings and children’s college education fund as well.
“You didn’t mention that you were going to buy 97% of the supply and sell it almost immediately to make a large profit.”
Some people have even claimed that Welch should face serious consequences.
“Haliey Welch you’re going to f***ing jail,” one person wrote.
Another echoed this, writing: “Hailey I’m not even kidding when I say this, you are most likely going to prison.”
Welch’s team responded on X, saying: “Team hasn’t sold one token and not 1 KOL was given 1 free token.
“We tried to stop snipers as best we could through high fees in the start of launch on @MeteoraAG. Fees have now been dropped.”
OverHere, a platform involved with $HAWK, echoed this sentiment, stating: “Haliey’s Team has sold absolutely no tokens whatsoever. Haliey’s Team has 10% allocation which is locked for 1 year and vested over 3 years. The rest of the tokens are distributed into the different wallets as according to the tokenomics.”
In a statement to Fortune prior to the coin’s launch, Welch denied that $HAWK was a “cash grab”, describing the venture as a way to engage with her fanbase.
“Crypto is a good way to interact with my fans,” Welch said, adding that her interest in the market was sparked by rapper Lil Pump.
