Hailey Welch, extensively identified for creating the viral “Hawk Tuah” meme, has come beneath hearth after the collapse of her newly launched cryptocurrency, $HAWK.
The meme coin, which debuted on the Solana blockchain on Wednesday, initially skilled a meteoric rise, reaching a valuation of $500 million inside moments of its launch. Nevertheless, its worth plummeted sharply, dropping under $60 million in a matter of minutes.
The steep decline sparked widespread criticism on-line, with many accusing Welch of orchestrating a rip-off. Detractors on social media labelled the coin a hoax, and authorized challenges rapidly started to emerge.
“We’re representing shoppers in issues associated to $HAWK,” eminent legislation agency, Burwick Regulation posted on X (previously Twitter). “In the event you’ve skilled losses and wish to discover your choices, study extra.”
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Following the extreme backlash Welch and her workforce addressed the controversy, denying any intentional wrongdoing. Her supervisor said, “We don’t need to break securities legal guidelines. We’d say that we’re nearly, like, tokenizing, in a way, Hailey’s fan base.”
“Crew hasn’t offered one token and never 1 KOL was given 1 free token. We tried to cease snipers as greatest we might by means of excessive charges within the begin of launch on @MeteoraAG,” Welch herself took to X to defend.
Netizens are calling for Welch to be held accountable
“Justice for Hawk Tuah scammed. She deserves some jail time to make an instance and present different celebs to not abuse their followers,” one person commented.
“In the event you misplaced cash on a Hawk Tuah Coin… You deserved it,” one other chimed in.
Different feedback included, “Everybody bout to lose extra in authorized charges as a result of she did not do something unlawful 😭 (frankly I do not assume she knew wtf was occurring, her Dev/workforce took benefit now she’s taking the warmth).”
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One other particular person harshly commented, “This chick must disappear as quick as she got here on the general public agenda.”
“idky folks turn into well-known, achieve the belief of their loyal fanbase who made them who they’re, & then betray them for their very own monetary achieve,” one person wrote. Whereas one other piped in commenting, “She ought to speak tuah lawyer as effectively.”