The debut of viral influencer Haliey Welch’s Hawk Tuah memecoin has ignited a social media firestorm after the token’s rapid rise and subsequent collapse. Accusations of insider wallets and sniper activity during its launch have only fueled the backlash.
Welch has refuted claims of insider trading, asserting that neither her team nor affiliated entities engaged in such practices.
Launched at 10:00 PM UTC on Dec. 4, the Hawk Tuah (HAWK) memecoin briefly soared to a market cap of $490 million. However, within hours, its value plummeted, with a 91% decline leaving it at a $41.7 million valuation, as per DexScreener data.
Aggregated data from Bubblemaps and Dexscreener revealed that between 80% and 90% of HAWK’s initial supply was controlled by a combination of insider wallets and snipers—entities that secure large amounts of tokens immediately at launch.
In a Dec. 5 statement on X (formerly Twitter), Welch addressed the controversy, claiming her team had not sold any tokens nor distributed free coins to key opinion leaders (KOLs). She emphasized efforts to deter sniping by utilizing high fees during the launch via the Meteora decentralized liquidity protocol.
“The team hasn’t sold a single token, and no KOL received free tokens,” Welch said. “We took measures to minimize snipers through high fees during the launch on Meteora.”
Despite these precautions, data from Solana block explorer Solscanner showed that one wallet managed to snipe 17.5% of HAWK’s supply within seconds of its launch, acquiring the tokens for 4,195 Wrapped Solana (WSOL), valued at $993,000 at the time. Over the next 90 minutes, the same wallet sold off 135.8 million HAWK tokens, netting a $1.3 million profit.
The token’s volatility left some investors nursing significant losses. One X user lamented, “I really lost $43k aping into ‘Hawk Tuah’ coin.”
Another investor reportedly exchanged $1.4 million worth of the memecoin MOODENG for HAWK tokens, only to lose $1.3 million in the process, according to on-chain data.
HAWK Memecoin Risks Legal Backlash, Say Observers
Beyond the token’s rocky launch, some experts suggest Welch and her team could face regulatory scrutiny.
Several users on X claimed to have filed complaints with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding HAWK. Meanwhile, law firms have begun soliciting clients who incurred losses from the token.
In a Dec. 5 post, Burwick Law urged affected investors to reach out. “If you lost money on $HAWK, contact our firm to learn about your legal rights,” the firm announced.
As public anger simmers and legal threats mount, Welch’s latest venture continues to be a cautionary tale in the unpredictable world of memecoins.
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