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 the thought that helium mightiness motorboat a crypto coin. “I’M NOT DOING A COIN,” helium 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 the YZY coin successful 2 posts. “The authoritative Yeezy token conscionable dropped,” said West, successful a strangely deadpan video clip that immoderate X users speculated was AI-generated.

As traders piled in, the coin’s insubstantial worth surged to $3 billion, past plummeted by two-thirds successful the span of 3 hours arsenic aboriginal investors cashed out. Since the commencement of trading, investors person placed more than $740 million worthy of trades. The bulk 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 with his plan label. In May, helium 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 enactment you successful control, escaped from centralized authority,” the website claims.

According to the website, 20 percent of the YZY proviso has been released, 10 percent has been pooled connected exchanges to let for creaseless trading, portion the remaining 70 percent is held by Yeezy Investments LLC. The institution cannot summation entree to those coins for astatine slightest 3 months, a communal signifier meant to forestall issuers from dumping their holdings and sinking the terms 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 the YZY Money website nether a licence granted by Ox Paha Inc., a institution done which West manages his intelligence property, the presumption and conditions state.

Typically, rookie crypto traders are warned distant from coins whose proviso is concentrated successful the hands of a tiny fig of parties, for fearfulness they mightiness merchantability disconnected their holdings en masse, driving down the terms of the coin.

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

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