- Kanye West’s YZY token’s rapid rise and fall causes $75M loss.
- Insiders reportedly extracted over $18 million from YZY trades.
- Major exchanges avoided listing YZY, minimizing institutional exposure.
Kanye West’s YZY token collapsed in August 2025, wiping out $75 million and affecting thousands of holders. Key insider Hayden Davis profited over $12 million. Over 90% of the token’s supply was held by insider wallets, leading to rapid liquidity exits.
The YZY token crash illustrates the volatile nature of celebrity-backed cryptocurrencies, with significant financial losses for retail traders and increased caution among major exchanges.
Following its surge in August 2025, the YZY token initiated by Kanye West crashed, leading to a $75 million retail market loss. Insiders reportedly extracted over $18 million, triggering a significant liquidity drain. The developer team has yet to publish any official accountability documents. Kanye West, through his X (Twitter), shared concerns of a hacked Instagram indirectly referencing a fake coin, positioning his involvement in the official project.
The incident highlights risk in the cryptocurrency market, with retail investors facing losses between $100,000 and $1,000,000, primarily in YZY-related asset pools. Despite retail impacts, most major exchanges avoided listing the token, limiting broader institutional concerns.
Blockchain analytics identified significant control by insider wallets, underscoring governance challenges in celebrity-led token initiatives. The token’s fallout strongly affects Solana-based assets, with significant liquidity drain impacting associated pools. Most of the supply remains with a few wallets, causing trust issues in DeFi ecosystems and pressure on regulatory bodies to increase scrutiny on celebrity endorsements in cryptocurrencies.
Transparency isn’t just a buzzword—absence reveals intent.” — Hayden Davis, Ex-LIBRA Co-founder, LinkedIn
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YZY Token Crash Costs Retail Traders $75M
Kanye West's YZY token crash highlights the volatility of celebrity-backed cryptocurrencies, impacting retail investors significantly.
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