Haliey Welch is a popular internet personality known as Hawk Tuah Girl who has been embroiled in controversy after launching her meme coin HAWK on the Solana blockchain.
The rapid rise and fall of this token has drawn sharp criticism from the cryptocurrency community, with accusations of unethical practices that could attract regulatory appeal.
hawk meme coin
On December 4th, Memecoin debuted on the Solana blockchain to much acclaim and within minutes skyrocketed to a market cap of $500 million, only to plummet to $60 million soon after.
This erratic performance has left many investors outraged, with the token being sold in a pump-and-dump scheme (where malicious developers profit from artificially inflated prices before abandoning the project). Speculation has increased that it may have been designed as a tactic to obtain
Bubblemaps' blockchain analysis reveals more worrying details about HAWK's launch. According to the company, almost 96% of the token supply was reportedly controlled by insider wallets. Such concentrated holdings are often associated with market manipulation, further increasing skepticism about the token's legitimacy.
At X Spaces, hosted by the project's team, on-chain researcher Coffeezilla accused Welch and his team of insider trading. He said:
“You guys made over $1 million in fees while the fans suffered. There were snipers, but there were also insider trading tied directly to creator accounts.”
The HAWK situation was reminiscent of the previous celebrity token launch at Solana, which failed. Earlier this year, multiple artists and influencers issued tokens in a short-lived trend, but many of these assets lost nearly all their value within hours or days.
Critics argue that the HAWK token follows a similar trajectory, highlighting the risks of investing in unproven celebrity-endorsed tokens.
legal implications
The token collapse sparked outrage across social media, with some users reporting the incident to regulators.
Meanwhile, multiple investors claim to have filed complaints with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and law firms are providing legal assistance to investors who suffered losses. One firm, Berwick Law Firm, publicly encouraged aggrieved parties to come forward and consider redress options.
Adding to the uproar, members of the crypto community created a satirical token called “Straight Tuah Prison,” insinuating that Welch should be held accountable for the token’s failure. These developments suggest that Welch and his team may soon face legal trouble.
Welch's response
In defense of himself, Welch denied any wrongdoing in a Dec. 5 post on He said he did not.
Welch explained that he launched HAWK using Meteora, a decentralized liquidity protocol, to thwart snipers. she wrote:
“The team hadn't sold a single token yet, and not a single KOL had been given a single free token. At launch, we paid high fees to sell as many snipers as possible. I tried to prevent it.”
Over Here, a platform that is collaborating with Welch on its launch, echoed her remarks. They clarified that Tokenomics was designed with transparency in mind and that Welch's team is not selling tokens.
They also noted that her team's 10% token allocation is locked in for one year and subject to a three-year vesting schedule.
Despite these assurances, this controversy raises questions about the risks associated with celebrity-backed crypto projects.
