Ye, Formerly Kanye West, ‘Apparently’ Releases YZY Token as Insiders Cash Out Millions

YZY Token Soars on Launch Amid Insider Profits and Liquidity Red Flags

The Solana-based memecoin YZY Money, associated with Ye (formerly Kanye West), rocketed thousands of percent at debut but faces sharp criticism over concentrated insider control, suspicious trading activity, and a liquidity design that may leave everyday investors vulnerable.

YZY first appeared on Thursday with explosive gains, briefly hitting $3.16—an increase of nearly 6,800% from its launch price—and some trackers claimed its market capitalization briefly reached $3 billion. The token’s announcement came via Ye’s X account in early Asian trading hours, initially causing concerns the account had been hacked. A subsequent video surfaced showing Ye discussing and seemingly confirming the token launch, though it remains unclear whether it was the genuine artist or an AI-generated version.

The token is part of Ye’s broader YZY ecosystem, which includes a YZY token, Ye Pay payment processor, and YZY Card aimed at facilitating global spending with YZY and USDC.

Tokenomics first exposed by CoinDesk in February showed that 70% of YZY’s supply is allocated directly to Ye, 10% reserved for liquidity, and only 20% available to the public. Ye had originally pushed for an 80% stake—mirroring the structure of the Trump-backed TRUMP token—before negotiating it down.

From the start, the project carried controversy. Ye previously criticized cryptocurrency projects for exploiting fans through hype, only to later embrace the YZY token launch. Insiders told CoinDesk the token was intended to replicate TRUMP’s strategy despite similar tokens like Argentina’s LIBRA collapsing amid pump-and-dump accusations.

Critics warn that such an insider-heavy allocation concentrates risk on retail buyers, especially combined with YZY’s single-sided liquidity pool.

The token distribution assigns 20% to public buyers, 10% to liquidity, and 70% to Yeezy Investments LLC, locked under a 24-month vesting schedule managed by Jupiter Lock.

To deter bot activity, the launch employed 25 different contract addresses with only one randomly chosen as the official token—a “1-in-25 anti-sniping” mechanism promoted as fair. However, blockchain analytics reveal insider wallets had prior knowledge.

Lookonchain identified wallet 6MNWV8 as accessing the contract address ahead of launch and attempting early purchases. Post-launch, the wallet spent 450,611 USDC acquiring 1.29 million YZY tokens at about $0.35 each and later sold 1.04 million for 1.39 million USDC, netting over $1.5 million in profits while retaining roughly 250,000 tokens valued at $600,000.

“Insider wallet 6MNWV8 had advance contract knowledge and bought before launch,” Lookonchain stated on X.

OnChain Lens pointed to a major whale investing 12,170 SOL (approx. $2.28 million) for 2.67 million YZY tokens, currently worth $8.29 million—an unrealized gain of around $6 million.

YZY’s liquidity pool contains only YZY tokens, without pairing against USDC. This single-sided liquidity allows holders or developers to add or remove liquidity at will, facilitating potential cash-outs—a controversial design also seen in the LIBRA token.

“Only $YZY was added to liquidity, no $USDC, allowing devs to sell by manipulating liquidity, similar to $LIBRA,” Lookonchain noted.

Despite the hype and initial surge, YZY’s price fell to nearly $1, causing some early investors heavy losses.

Wallet 6ZFnRH bought 996,453 YZY tokens for 1.55 million USDC at $1.56 but sold them two hours later at $1.06 for 1.05 million USDC—a loss close to $500,000.

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