Scam or just another influencer-driven meme gone bad? This is the painful question investors are facing in the wake of the HAWK coin meme a couple of days ago.
But did Haley Welch and her team pull off a classic hit, or was this simply the result of FUD affecting a volatile meme coin?
Either way, HAWK’s story is another lesson in how to avoid cryptocurrency scams Flockers (flock) shows the way forward for well-researched meme currency projects.
A meme coin fit for a queen
Haliey Welch, widely known as the “Hawk Tuah Girl”, became an internet celebrity in 2024. She became a major supporter of cryptocurrencies, purchasing DOGE and generally becoming a crypto meme.
So it came as no surprise when the self-proclaimed “Queen of Memes” planned to launch her own meme coin.
The token, called HAWK, was launched on December 4, 2024 on the Solana blockchain through… About here.
Hawkeye collapses spectacularly
The cryptocurrency experienced an initial boom, with the market capitalization reaching $500 million, but quickly fell by more than 95% under sustained selling pressure.
Eventually, the market cap stabilized and currently stands at $31 million, according to CoinMarketCap.
What happened?
This rapid decline has led to allegations of a “pump and dump” scheme, where insiders inflate the value of an asset by promoting and then selling the property for a profit, leaving other investors to suffer losses.
Welch denied the allegations, stating on social media that her team did not sell any tokens and applied high initial fees to deter early traders from manipulating the launch.
Most investors found these claims questionable, at best. Blockchain explorers have demonstrated massive concentrations of tokens being held and then sold from a small number of wallets. Information from Bubblemaps.io It shows how important concentrations are, with a single wallet controlling more than 15% of the supply.
Once the sale started, token prices collapsed, and the bottom fell out of the impressive market value.
It didn’t take long for investors to report significant financial losses, with some claiming to have invested their life savings or children’s college money.
The incident raised questions about Welch’s credibility.
HAWK investors are likely new to cryptocurrencies
Analysts like Coffeezilla On YouTube He pointed out Many of Welch’s fans and potential investors in HAWK were likely new to the cryptocurrency space. They may not have realized the importance of doing research rather than just following the advice of a newly popular young influencer.
Among the red flags of the HAWK code:
The end result was that one-fifth of the total tokens were available for sale immediately, and only 3% of the tokens were allocated to the public. The entire process lacked the necessary transparency.
Online talk quickly turned to fraud and prosecution.
Meme Coin Investors: Look for well-vetted projects
The launch of the HAWK meme led to a brief valuation peak followed by a sharp decline, leading to losses for investors and accusations of fraudulent activity, which Welch disputes.
It also highlights how important it is for investors to choose projects that contain as much information as possible. For projects like FlockersThis means roadmaps, community governance, token information, details on staking, vesting periods, and more.
In the world of cryptocurrencies, knowledge is power. Maybe Haley Welch didn’t do her own research, or maybe she did. Either way, the HAWK launch quickly fell into trouble.
Don’t fall for the next HAWK. When investing in meme coins, do your research Find the best upcoming projects.
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