Maybe Don't Trust Your Life Savings to the Hawk Tuah Girl

I know this might blow some minds, but a woman primarily famous for mimicking the sound one makes while spitting on a guy’s penis is perhaps not the pinnacle of ethics. Haliey Welch, best known as the Hawk Tuah girl, shot to fame after a drunken moment went viral. She leveraged that notoriety into a podcast managed by Jake Paul’s media company.

Then came her foray into cryptocurrency with a meme coin — a type of digital currency that thrives on community-building. I hate to sound harsh, but if you’re investing a meaningful amount of money in a meme coin, you’re an idiot. Unfortunately, the cryptocurrency market is still far from idiot-proof, leaving well-meaning, good-natured idiots vulnerable to scams.

Case in point: Haliey Welch launched a meme coin yesterday called $Hawk. Reports indicate that roughly 96% of the coin was held by ten interconnected accounts, almost certainly controlled by Welch herself. Following its launch, these accounts artificially inflated the coin’s value to $500 million. Shortly after, they sold off their holdings, tanking the coin’s value to around $50 million. The insiders walked away with enormous profits—not just from the pump-and-dump scheme but also from transaction fees—while everyone else got fleeced. Among the victims was someone who lost their life savings in mere minutes.

I am a huge fan of Hawk Tuah but you took my life savings.

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— Madeline Peltz (@peltzmadeline.bsky.social) December 4, 2024 at 9:07 PM

Welch and her team addressed the controversy in a Twitter Spaces session last night, claiming everything was legitimate, but no one seems convinced. Many buyers likely thought they were supporting someone they trusted based on the sincerity in which she drunkenly made the sound of expectorating. Instead, they joined a “community” only to see their money vanish.

Unfortunately, the crypto industry remains largely underregulated. While “rug pulling” is unethical, it’s not always illegal, and even if it were, proving intent would be challenging. So, while Hawk Tuah girl may have tanked her internet fame, she’ll likely walk away with millions, which is otherwise probably more money than she might have amassed on her own before that fame had burned out.