Kanye West's coin launch is shrouded in doubt: Why are celebrity coins always plagued by controversy?

Deng Tong, Jinse Finance

On August 21, 2025, Kanye West announced the launch of a new cryptocurrency on X, stating, "YEEZY Tokens are here, a brand new economy based on blockchain," and also included the official website URL. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes also took note of the YZY project, urging Kanye West to be less aggressive and expressing optimism about its performance in a bull market.

What is the YZY project? What are the current controversies? How do you view the phenomenon of celebrities launching cryptocurrency?

I. YZY Project Details

The token released by Kanye West is called YZY. The official website explains it as "YZY is the token that powers all transactions within YZY MONEY," which "puts you in control, independent of centralized authority."

His post included an image that appears to be his cryptocurrency address, along with a link to the official website.

After he released a video confirming the YZY launch, the YZY token's market capitalization briefly reached $3 billion. According to data from the GMGN.Ai analytics platform, the token's current market capitalization is approximately $1.14 billion. The highest trading price was $3.23, and as of press time, it has fallen to $1.1493, a 64.42% drop from its peak.

YZY MONEY's official website provides detailed information on the YZY token economics: 20% will be used for public issuance, 10% will be used for the liquidity pool, 30% will be allocated to Yeezy Investments LLC (locked for 3 months, with a linear release over 24 months), 20% will be allocated to the team (locked for 6 months, with a linear release over 24 months), and 20% will be used for the ecological development fund (locked for 12 months, with a linear release over 24 months). YZY is minted on Solana. YZY is intended as an "expression of support and participation" for the ideals embodied by the symbol, rather than an investment opportunity. The YZY ecosystem includes Ye Pay (a cryptocurrency payment processor that allows merchants to accept credit cards and cryptocurrency payments at low fees) and the YZY credit card. YZY employs an anti-sniping mechanism, deploying 25 contract addresses, with only one selected as the official YZY token. The token's vesting schedule utilizes Jupiter Lock, an open-source, audited protocol, divided into three tranches, each with a different cliff period and a 24-month vesting period. It can be traded through Meteora on Solana, and the official liquidity pool address has been published.

II. Controversies related to YZY

1. Insider wallet arbitrage

Coinbase director Conor Grogan posted on social media, “According to my estimate, at least 94% of YZY tokens are held by insiders; 87% of the tokens are held by a single multi-signature wallet (now dispersed to multiple wallets); more than 3% of the tokens were purchased by multiple (pre-prepared) wallets in a single large transaction at the market opening; more than 7% of the tokens are in the liquidity pool.”

According to Lookonchain monitoring, only YZY has been added to the liquidity pool since YZY went online, and no USDC has been added. Developers can sell YZY by adding or removing liquidity, similar to LIBRA. Several insider wallets prepared funds in advance and immediately bought YZY after the announcement. One such address, prefixed with 6MNWV8, attempted to purchase YZY yesterday. Today, it spent 450,611 USDC to buy 1.29 million YZY at $0.35. It then sold 1.04 million YZY at $1.39 million, leaving it with 249,907 YZY (approximately $600,000), a profit of over $1.5 million. Furthermore, an investor suspected of having access to token information lost $710,000 by buying the wrong YZY. This address subsequently purchased genuine YZY for $761,000, making a profit of over $710,000 to date. 2. Did Kanye West really launch a cryptocurrency? Back in February of this year, Kanye West stated that he would not issue a cryptocurrency because it "would use hype to deceive fans." West also stated that someone contacted him to scam the social media community by promoting a fake cryptocurrency for $2 million. This led many to doubt Kanye West's launch and to suspect his account was compromised. On X, many people speculated that the content of Kanye West's videos was AI-generated, rather than recorded by him.

Polymarket even offered bets on whether Kanye’s account had been hacked.

However, the official website and his online store list YZY as a potential payment option, suggesting that the project may indeed be launched by Kanye West.

III. What is your perspective on the phenomenon of celebrities issuing tokens?

Celebrity token issuance is a common occurrence in the cryptocurrency industry. From the President of the United States to celebrities in various fields, there are many such individuals.

On January 17, 2025, Trump announced his own meme coin, TRUMP Coin, on social media. Following its launch, the price of TRUMP Coin experienced significant price fluctuations. Opening at $0.1824, it soared over 15,000% to approximately $30 within 12 hours. Within 24 hours, it reached a high of $75.35, reaching a market capitalization of $82 billion, before retreating.

The day after Trump's token launch, his wife Melania also issued her own meme coin, "MELANIA." His youngest son also launched a meme coin named after him, "BARRON." In late May 2025, Olympic decathlon champion Caitlyn Jenner launched her own meme coin on the Pump.fun platform. R&B singers Jason Derulo and Sasheer Arora collaborated on the JASON token. Rapper Waka Flocka Flame also launched his own meme coin, FLOCKA. Australian musician Iggy Azalea launched the MOTHER token. Without exception, these celebrity coins experienced a brief surge in popularity before quickly falling. With the exception of TRUMP coin, which occasionally saw significant increases due to Trump's words and actions, most celebrity coins have long since vanished. Celebrity token launches leverage their fame, traffic, and fan base to monetize, resulting from the collision of the "attention economy" and "hype." Whether it's a presidential token or an ordinary celebrity, tokens typically experience a rapid surge in value after listing, followed by a sharp drop. Lacking real value, these gains and hype are often short-lived. Celebrity-issued tokens first face regulatory compliance challenges. Under US regulations, many celebrity-issued tokens are considered "unregistered securities," raising risks such as "illegal fundraising" and "illegal issuance of tokens and tickets." Secondly, most meme coins are suspected of being "leeks," lacking real value and relying solely on celebrity influence to attract fan investment. These coins also engage in illicit practices such as arbitrary pump and dump prices, leaving many investors ripped off. Finally, celebrity-issued tokens involve significant speculation, contradicting the geeky spirit of crypto, and hindering technological innovation, negatively impacting the industry's long-term development. However, celebrity-issued tokens are not entirely without merit. For example, after Trump launched the TRUMP coin, more Americans became aware of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies and began experimenting with them, which has had a positive impact on raising public awareness of cryptocurrencies. IV. Conclusion YZY is still in its early stages, and its success depends on its actual implementation. Without real-world application scenarios, YZY will be nothing more than a speculative meme coin, destined to be lost among countless other tokens. Investors should invest rationally and avoid blindly following hype. Identifying projects with real, long-term value is the key to success.

Appendix: Who is Kanye West?

Kanye West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer known for his diverse musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. He has won 24 Grammy Awards and has sold 160 million records. He has frequently been at the center of controversy due to his behavior on social media, at award shows, and in public, as well as his comments on the music and fashion industries, American politics, race, and slavery. His Christian faith, his high-profile marriage to Kim Kardashian, his feuds with Taylor Swift and Drake, and his mental health have also been topics of media attention. In 2020, Kanye West unsuccessfully ran for president as an independent.