The launch of a new cryptocurrency went bad on Wednesday – reaching a market cap of almost $500 million before falling almost immediately to $25 million. The Hawk Tuah coin – launched by viral sensation Haliey Welch – could now face legal action after several traders appeared to suffer big losses.
$Hawk debuted on Solana blockchain Earlier this week, many blasted Welch and his team for “one of the most miserable and horrible launches” ever seen. Accusations of insider trading were also made against the influencer, with CoinTelegraph claiming that around 80-90% of the currency was controlled. by insiders or sharpshooters – or entities that purchased significant quantities at launch.
Welch and his team, however, deny these allegations and have repeatedly insisted that they did not sell any tokens. An article on The rest of the tokens were distributed into different wallets according to “tokenomics”.
“The main feature around The remaining 3% was seeded into a Meteora LP and burned ($300 million HAWK + $2,598 SOL = $1.2 million at 20 million FDV). We also seeded 0.3% into a Raydium pool,” overHere added in an X article.
Some critics have also speculated that the coin was launched as part of a “pump and dump” scheme. There is, however, no clear evidence of wrongdoing at this time – and it remains unclear whether legal action can be taken against Welch and his team.