Hawk Tuah Girl Hailey Welch Enters Memecoin Mania, Draws Scorn of Crypto Community

Posted on: November 26, 2024, 05:56h. 

Last updated on: November 27, 2024, 10:22h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Hailey Welch, known to many as the “Hawk Tuah girl,” is joining the memecoin frenzy and some members of the cryptocurrency community aren’t pleased.

Huak Tuah Girl Hailey Welch
Hailey Welch in the now infamous “Hawk Tuah” video. She’s getting into the memecoin space with the December 4 offering of “HAWK.”

Welch, who ascended to internet stardom or infamy in June for saying “hawk tuah” and “spit on that thang” in reference to a sexual act, announced Tuesday on X the December 4 launch of the memecoin HAWK, which will trade on the Solana blockchain.

As the name implies, memecoins are cryptocurrencies based on viral internet moments or famous people. Some of the most popular assets in this corner of the digital currency space have been inspired by pets and politicians, including President-elect Trump.

On the back of bitcoin’s recent ascent to all-time highs and its flirtation with $100K, memecoins have taken off. Fueled by tales of some traders accumulating large profits in short timeframes, scores of retail market participants have swarmed into the memecoin realm.

However, these assets are usually priced in hundreths or thousandths of a cent, implying high levels of speculation and low levels of credibility. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana, memecoins have no intrinsic value and no real-world utility.

Those are among the reasons some crypto devotees are already bashing HAWK, with some saying no more memecoins are needed while others believe HAWK will join the long line of joke coins that turned out to be scams.

Traders Worried About Hawk Tuah Rug Pull

Some X users expressed concern that HAWK could be a “rug pull” — a crypto colloquialism describing the scenario in which a project’s backers bail without warning. That often occurs when a memecoin has been rapidly bid up, leaving unwitting investors holding the bag on an asset that has subsequently lost a significant amount of its value.

Rug pulls can be extensively orchestrated, with bad actors leveraging various strategies to lure as many victims as possible. Some scams even use trusted figures to gain trust, while others promise extremely high returns or offer exclusive digital goods,” according to Coinbase.

For her part, Welch replied to one X user who expressed concern about a potential rug pull by saying “Nope” to that poster’s various allegations, including that HAWK’s insiders will be selling while other traders are buying.

In her X profile, Welch describes herself as the “queen of memes,” indicating that her foray into crypto may have been a logical step when accounting for internet stardom. Her podcast deal with Jake Paul’s Betr could be advantageous in terms of promoting HAWK and fostering community engagement — elements that are hallmarks of successful memecoins.

Some Gaming Precedents for Memecoins

Welch’s ties to gaming largely revolve around the occasional mention of sports betting on her podcast, but the industry has had run-ins with memecoins.

Last month, DraftKings sports betting personality Taylor Mathis pumped the memecoin “TAYLOR,” reportedly in exchange for 2% of the supply, or 20 million tokens. TAYLOR shot higher, but the price quickly cratered, sparking accusations of a rug pull. Mathis posted on social media that a rug pull couldn’t have happened without her participation, but those posts were subsequently deleted.

In the wake of that controversy, Mathis temporarily locked her social media accounts, and while X her feed is again open to the public, including a bikini-clad photo posted earlier on Tuesday, her profile has no reference to a relationship with DraftKings, fueling speculation that the gaming company fired her following the TAYLOR fiasco.