Kanye West’s YZY Memecoin Surges to $3B Before Insider Concerns

Kanye West’s YZY Token Surges to $3B Before Drop

Kanye West’s newly launched YZY token on Solana skyrocketed to a $3 billion market capitalization within 40 minutes of release. 

Yet the asset swiftly slumped to roughly $1 billion when on-chain analysis uncovered possible insider trading and a highly concentrated supply.

West’s X account acted as the launch’s promotional platform, where he posted the token’s contract address alongside its site for the Yeezy Money ecosystem.

https://x.com/kanyewest/status/1958346810801697237

The platform portrayed YZY as the cornerstone of a new financial architecture that integrates Ye Pay with a YZY Card for worldwide crypto transactions.

Blockchain trackers swiftly sounded alarms, noting that the token’s supply seemed to be dominated by insiders.

Research revealed that a single multisig wallet controlled 87% of the supply before dispersing it, igniting questions about whether retail investors were afforded a fair opportunity.

On-Chain Data Reveals Insider Profits

Lookonchain traced wallets that interacted with the contract address prior to its public launch.

A wallet purchased 1.29 million YZY for 450,611 USDC and subsequently sold the bulk of its holdings for a $1.5 million profit.

https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1958355708010975580

A further whale poured 12,170 SOL, equivalent to $2.28 million, into 2.67 million tokens and continues to hold an unrealized profit of $6 million.

At the same time, retail traders endured considerable losses, with one wallet shedding more than $500,000 in just hours of trading.

Liquidity Structure Raises Questions

The project launched 25 contract addresses to deter bot manipulation, however, on-chain data pointed toward insiders having advanced access.

That finding ran counter to the fairness assurances put forward by the Yeezy Money team.

Furthermore, the liquidity pool contained the tokens exclusively without a USDC pair, affording developers complete control over liquidity.

Crypto analysts likened the structure to Argentina’s LIBRA token, which imploded earlier this year amid comparable concerns.

Traders Still Speculate Despite Risks

Yet, in spite of the controversy, traders and crypto influencers noted that they were buying YZY because of its robust liquidity and intense hype.

James Wynn likened it to Donald Trump’s TRUMP token, which skyrocketed by four times in the 28 hours after its launch.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes likewise seemed to join the buying dash, highlighting the ongoing appetite for celebrity-backed tokens.

However, market analysts cautioned that the insider-dominated allocations and one-sided liquidity leave retail traders susceptible to heavy losses.