'Hawk Tuah' girl Haliey Welch accused of insider trading after crypto launch

Haliey Welch, the 22-year-old who rose to fame this summer for her viral "hawk tuah" TikTok video, is coming under fire for what many view as a disastrous launch of her cryptocurrency.

Haliey Welch, the 22-year-old who became famous this summer for her viral "hawk tuah" TikTok video, is now facing backlash over her cryptocurrency launch, which many are calling a "rug pull."

Welch's latest career move, after becoming a celebrity, was to launch her own "meme coin," a form of cryptocurrency that is created as a joke or for entertainment purposes. However, shortly after Welch and her team of advisors launched $HAWK on the blockchain platform Solana on Wednesday evening, its value began to plummet almost immediately.

Now, some are suggesting that Welch may have run afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission, an independent oversight agency that regulates financial markets, including cryptocurrency.

According to a report from Rolling Stone, some investors in the Welch cryptocurrency have already filed complaints with the SEC, alleging that what took place could be what's known as a "rug pull" – when developers hype up a crypto project to inflate the value, only to quickly profit off it before it tanks and they disappear.

Welch and her team, however, have taken to social media to dispel the notion that the meme coin was a scam.

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Welch's claim to fame primarily came during the summer when, while she was in Nashville for the CMA Fest, a YouTuber recorded and posted a clip of her cracking a sexual joke.

Since then, Welch has embarked on a new career as a celebrity, social media influencer and marketer.

She assembled a team consisting of an attorney, a management company and a PR firm, and created a company, 16 Minutes. She started a podcast, Talk Tuah, and has appeared on stage with country music star Zach Bryan at his show in Nashville and hung out with Shaquille O'Neal.

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Welch accused of insider trading after crypto launch

But her latest venture, a cryptocurrency of her own, is landing Welch in some hot water.

The Hawk Tuah crypto is what's known as a meme coin, which, like the Dogecoin associated with Elon Musk, references popular social media memes.

Welch’s coin quickly hit a market capitalization of nearly $500 million before immediately plummeting 95% to $25 million as of Thursday afternoon, resulting in big losses for some traders, according to Forbes, which cited DexScreener data.

CoinTelegraph, which covers news on the crypto industry, reported about 80% to 90% of the Hawk Tuah supply was controlled by entities known as snipers that buy up most of the supply, sell it for a massive profit and tank the value.

The launch turned into a debacle, sparking backlash on social media.

Some investors on social media site X claimed to be filing complaints with the SEC, while Burwick Law, a firm that specializes in cryptocurrency, advertised its services to those who lost money on the meme coin.

In an audio event on X Spaces, Stephen Findeisen, a popular crypto YouTuber who goes by Coffeezilla, told Welch and her team that the rollout was “one of the most miserable, horrible launches I’ve ever seen." He even accused them of insider trading, which they denied.

Welch said in a post on X that her team had not sold any tokens and they “tried to stop snipers as best we could.”

USA TODAY made attempts Friday morning to reach representatives for Welch.

Contributing: Melonee Hurt, Nashville Tennessean

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Hawk Tuah' cryptocurrency launch faces backlash