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Rapper Kanye West’s latest foray into digital assets sparked a frenzy among traders on Thursday as the Kanye West memecoin YZY briefly reached a $3 billion market capitalization just 40 minutes after launch on Solana.
West, who now goes by Ye, announced the token on X, posting its contract address and the official website for Yeezy Money, described as “a new economy, built on chain.” The YZY token is positioned as the native currency for this system.
Despite the initial surge, YZY’s value quickly fell to around $1.05 billion by the time of writing, according to data from Nansen. The volatility highlights both the enthusiasm and risks surrounding the Kanye West memecoin, which has already drawn scrutiny from analysts and regulators alike.
Market observers flagged several irregularities during the YZY launch. The Yeezy Money website noted that 25 contract addresses had been deployed, with one selected at random as the official token. This was intended to prevent “sniping,” but blockchain analysts argue it did little to prevent insider advantages.
Onchain analytics platform Lookonchain said that liquidity for the token was structured in a way that allowed developers to modify pools and sell tokens at will. Coinbase director Conor Grogan added that 94% of the token supply was initially held by insiders, with one multisig wallet alone controlling 87% before redistribution.
“These concentrations of supply are red flags for any serious investor,” Grogan said in a post on X. “The Kanye West memecoin appears to follow the same pattern we’ve seen in other celebrity-backed tokens—highly centralized ownership and outsized insider profits.”
In one case, a user who bought the wrong token reportedly lost $710,000 before recovering through later trades, while another early buyer netted $3.4 million after paying $24,000 in priority fees to the Solana network.
Despite warnings, some high-profile traders are backing the Kanye West memecoin as a speculative play. Leverage trader James Wynn confirmed he entered a position after YZY’s 60% pullback, likening it to the rapid surge of Donald Trump’s TRUMP token earlier this year.
“Aped $YZY on a 60% pull back. $TRUMP ran from $4bn to $15bn in 28 hours. 4x,” Wynn wrote on X, adding that he sees YZY as a short-term liquidity-driven opportunity.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes also appeared to have purchased the token, further boosting market attention. For some traders, the sheer volume and visibility of the Kanye West memecoin make it attractive despite structural risks.
“Whales are often drawn to tokens with heavy liquidity and celebrity visibility,” Wynn added. “That doesn’t mean it’s safe—it means it’s a fast-moving trade.”
The launch of the Kanye West memecoin comes amid wider debate about the risks of celebrity-backed digital assets. Earlier this year, Argentina’s President Javier Milei promoted the LIBRA token, only to delete his endorsement after public backlash. The incident caused LIBRA’s market capitalization to plummet from $4 billion, sparking calls for stricter oversight of political and celebrity promotions.
Similarly, former US President Donald Trump launched the TRUMP memecoin ahead of his presidential inauguration, which experienced dramatic price swings in its first days of trading.
“Celebrity tokens often carry an aura of legitimacy simply because of the name attached, but structurally many of them are designed to benefit insiders at the expense of late buyers,” said Clara Medalie, research director at Kaiko, in an interview with Bloomberg. “The Kanye West memecoin is another example of why regulators and investors need to proceed with caution.”
At present, the YZY website includes disclaimers warning of potential total losses and restricting access in certain jurisdictions. West himself has not addressed insider trading allegations, but his February comments where he revealed he was once offered $2 million to promote a fake token through a staged hack suggest an awareness of risks in the sector.
With West’s personal net worth estimated at $400 million by Forbes, the financial impact on him may be limited. For investors, however, the volatility and concentration of YZY supply remain pressing concerns.
As the dust settles, the Kanye West memecoin highlights the broader risks of investing in celebrity-driven digital assets. For crypto investors, the YZY saga underscores a familiar lesson: high-profile names may drive market hype, but transparency and decentralization not celebrity remain the foundation of sustainable value.
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