Key Takeaways:
- Kanye West’s YZY token hit a $3B market cap within 40 minutes before falling to $1.05B amid insider trading concerns.
- Blockchain data showed insiders controlled up to 94% of the supply, with a single multisig wallet initially holding 87%.
- Despite red flags, high-profile traders like Arthur Hayes and James Wynn disclosed investments, treating YZY as a speculative play.
Kanye West, now known as Ye, launched his Solana-based YZY memecoin on August 21, sparking massive hype.
Within 40 minutes, YZY soared to a $3 billion market cap before crashing to around $1.05 billion amid mounting concerns over insider activity.
Kanye launched a meme coin $YZY on Solana that hit a $3B market cap.
— MetaverseSG (@MetaverseSG) August 21, 2025
6 wallets hold over 90% of supply.
Liquidity pool has only $YZY, no USDC – meaning the dev controls the market.
You already know how this ends, right? pic.twitter.com/WaDFAeDjLK
Promoted as the core currency of “YZY MONEY,” a decentralized financial ecosystem, the token was introduced with an anti-sniping mechanism that deployed 25 contract addresses, with one randomly chosen for the official launch.
Despite safeguards, blockchain analysts revealed that developers only added YZY tokens to the liquidity pool, raising red flags about market manipulation.
A single multisig wallet initially held 87% of the supply, later split across several wallets, leaving insiders with an estimated 94% control at peak valuation.
Some traders saw huge gains, including one who turned $24,000 into $3.4 million by paying high Solana fees to front-run the market.
Others lost funds by mistakenly buying fake versions of YZY.
Well-known figures like BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes and leverage trader James Wynn also joined in, framing it as a short-term speculative gamble.
The launch adds to a growing wave of celebrity-backed tokens stirring both hype and controversy.
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Efe Bravo, a seasoned journalist, delivers compelling insights into the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
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