Last Wednesday, viral TikTok sensation Haliey Welch launched a crypto memecoin named for her infamous "Hawk Tuah" catchphrase, touting the token as a way to connect with her fans. The token briefly spiked, climbing to a nearly $500 million market cap. Soon after, to the surprise of no one—other than the unlucky few who decided to buy HAWK on public markets—the coin collapsed more than 95%. The upshot is retail investors got fleeced, while a group of insiders pocketed $3 million, according to blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps.
The episode has all the markings of a dreaded "rug pull"—crypto slang for a familiar scam where bad actors hype a new project to investors to drive up the price. They then sell off a stash they kept for themselves, leading the value of the new cryptocurrency to plummet. "They've turned this into a one-day pump and dump," Nicolas Vaiman, the founder and CEO of Bubblemaps, told Fortune.
