Internet celebrity Haliey Welch, also popularly known as the Hawk Tuah Girl, launched the Hawk meme coin on 4 December 2024. The cryptocurrency reached a market capitalization of almost half a billion U.S. dollars within minutes after its launch. However, in the subsequent minutes, it plummeted by over 90 percent. Some observers noted this might be another case of pump-and-dump and rug pull schemes that have hounded cryptocurrencies.
The Hawk Tuah Meme Coin Controversy in A Nutshell
Background
Welch gained initial online popularity after a vox pop interview posted on the YouTube channel of Tim Dickerson and DeArius Marlow on 11 June 2024 and later on their TikTok account went viral across other social media accounts and platforms. In the interview, when asked what makes men go crazy in bed every time, she humorously made the onomatopoeic catchphrase “hawk tuah” to refer to the act of spitting on the penis during fellatio.
The then 22-year-old woman from Tennessee gained substantial fame overnight and achieved a strong online following. People called her the Hawk Tuah Girl. She began collaborating with other internet celebrities and launched the Talk Tuah podcast on 15 August 2024. She also founded a company to enable her to sell themed merchandizes and make paid appearances. Some estimates noted that she received USD 30000 per appearance. Welch also released the dating advice app Pookie Tools on 14 November 2024.
Welch further capitalized on her viral fame by launching her own cryptocurrency meme coin on 4 December 2024. It is called Hawk and it is further categorized as a meme coin or memecoin. This cryptocurrency is based on the Solana blockchain platform. She stated in an interview with Fortune that her coin was not a mere cash grab. The Hawk meme coin gained immediate traction with the media and cryptocurrency enthusiasts reporting on its launching.
Controversy
The Hawk meme coin quickly hit a market capitalization of almost USD 500 million. It hit a trading price of USD 0.00004028 and a trading volume of USD 306000 on the morning of December 5. Its market cap then plummeted 95 percent to USD 25 million in the afternoon and its trading price went below USD 0.000003000 starting on December 6. The current market cap has remained within USD 25 million since with no sign of recovery.
Data show that those who bought at peak saw a 95 percent loss. Welch has been in a hotspot after the disastrous and controversial launch of her meme coin. Some noted that it might be another case of a rug pull scam or a prime example of a pump-and-dump scheme that has been plaguing the cryptocurrency market. However, on the X platform, she insisted that her team had not sold a single coin and that only 10 percent of the supply was allocated to them. The team was also obliged to be in a 12-month lock and 3-year vesting period.
There is a reason to believe that the above was an example of a rug pull event. The visualization website Bubblemaps which tracks decentralized cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens showed that 96 percent of Hawk supply was in one cluster. 89 wallets, which include the Hawk team, sold their holdings immediately. This caused a sharp price drop. An investigation is on its way and law firms have encouraged affected investors to file a lawsuit.