Odds of Kayne West Launching Token Plummets as Related Tokens Lost Value

The likelihood of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, launching a token has sharply declined following his social media statement declaring, “I’m not doing a coin,” and criticising tokens for preying on fans through hype.

Despite this, several meme coins named "Ye" had emerged, fuelled by speculation around his potential involvement in crypto.

Following his denial, these tokens experienced significant losses.

One plummeted over 65%, while another dropped 89%, according to Dexscreener.

A Solana-based token with the ticker “YE” briefly surged nearly 290% on Friday before crashing, as reported by CoinGecko.

It is trading at $0.101, a 39.4% down in the last 24 hours.

West Denies Rumours of Token Launch, Says He’s Too Rich

West, firmly dismissed rumours of launching a meme coin, stating he only engages in ventures he is “passionate and knowledgeable about.”

The rapper and fashion mogul, whose net worth is estimated at $400 million by Forbes, quipped that he’s “too rich for that,” adding that coins exploit fan hype.

This follows his earlier revelation that he rejected a $2 million offer to participate in what he described as a crypto scam, which would have involved promoting a fraudulent token to his 32.6 million followers and later claiming his account was hacked—by which point, victims could have already suffered financial losses.

Shortly after, West shared a screenshot of a private conversation in which he asked an unnamed X user for a “crypto connect” that would not involve intermediaries.

The user suggested Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and offered to retrieve his contact information for West.

In one post, he stated:

“WHEN PEOPLE MAKE ALL THAT MONEY WITH A COIN IS THAT CASH OR CONCEPT.”

The rapper’s series of posts, particularly those referencing “coin” and “crypto,” sparked immediate buzz within the crypto community, with many urging him to reconsider launching his own token.

This flurry of attention comes on the heels of West’s headline-grabbing appearance at the 2025 Grammy Awards, keeping him firmly in the public eye.

Polymarket Jumped in on the Hype

Polymarket launched a prediction market on Thursday to gauge the likelihood of West releasing a coin in February.

Initial odds peaked at 40% but sharply declined to 13% after he publicly denied any such plans.

At one point, however, the platform reported a sudden spike, with odds briefly climbing to 46%.

Throughout the day, the market remained volatile, though probabilities largely hovered below 30%.

So far, around $52,000 has been wagered, reflecting both the unpredictability of the situation and the strong interest from speculators.

Crypto Community Gives Their Two Cents’ Worth

Crypto commentators have been quick to share their perspectives on West’s latest statements.

Analyst Armeanio suggested that, rather than launching a meme coin, he could leverage crypto as a payment method for his merchandise, aligning with his brand while avoiding the pitfalls of token speculation.

Meanwhile, Crypto Vic speculated that West’s remarks might be more about generating buzz ahead of an upcoming album release than signalling any serious involvement in the crypto space.

Even Pump.fun jumped in to encourage West to launch a coin.