Kanye West’s $YZY Crypto: Bold Investment or Dangerous Trap?

Jakarta, Pintu News – Global Hip-Hop artist, Ye-better known as Kanye West-has just launched his official crypto asset called $YZY.

Based on data from Nansen, within just 40 minutes of its release, the YZY token immediately reached a market capitalization of US$3 billion, but soon fell to around US$1.05 billion.

Despite the euphoria, a number of on-chain analysts gave a strong warning.

Is YZY Legit? Analysts Find Discrepancies

The token launch was a cautious move by West, especially after he rejected a fake $2 million crypto promotion offer back in February. However, crypto experts have highlighted the potential risk of insider trading.

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Arthur Hayes, one of the founders of BitMEX, reportedly bought the token as a short-term investment, but his views quickly changed – he later heavily criticized YZY.

In her post on X, she wrote,

“Oopsie… fam next time please don’t let me trade junk tokens like $YZY. I should have kept my cool.”

Coinbase Expert Verifies Alleged Insider Trading in YZY

Coinbase Director, Conor Grogan, revealed that 94% of YZY token supply is controlled by insiders. In fact, one multisig wallet initially controlled 87% of the tokens, before it was shifted to several other wallets.

Grogan explains:

“At least 94% of these new Kanye tokens are owned by insiders…87% were once concentrated in a single multisig wallet (which has now been spread across multiple wallets).”

He also added, “More than 3% was bought in just one large transaction by a number of wallets that were prepared from the start of trading.”

Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain also issued a similar warning. They found that some insider wallets had set up funds ahead of time and bought $YZY immediately after the launch.

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One wallet, with the address 6MNWV8, even knew the token’s contract address in advance and tried to buy the day before the release.

Mixed Reactions from Traders

The launch of YZY saw mixed results for traders. Some made huge profits, with one trader paying a Solana priority fee (SOL) of $24,000 to secure $3.4 million in profits. Another trader earned $6 million at peak prices.

However, not all fared well. One user bought the wrong contract and lost around $710,000. Luckily, he managed to recoup some of the loss after buying the correct contract.

This incident emphasizes how volatile YZY is, and also shows how much insider profits were made in the early phases of the token’s launch.

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*Disclaimer

This content aims to enrich readers’ information. Pintu collects this information from various relevant sources and is not influenced by outside parties. Note that an asset’s past performance does not determine its projected future performance. Crypto trading activities have high risk and volatility, always do your own research and use cold cash before investing. All activities of buying and selling bitcoin and other crypto asset investments are the responsibility of the reader.

Reference:

• Coinpedia. Crypto Rugpull: Arthur Hayes Calls Out Kanye’s YZY Token After Costly Gamble. Accessed on August 22, 2025