Hawk Tuah Influencer Says Memecoin Has Collapsed And Left It Hurt, But Critics Push Back
His lawyer puts the total loss from the launch of the HAWK token estimated at about $ 200,000 – an amount, in the world of crypto, that registers a little. But for Hailey Welsh, better known online as “Hawk Tuah Girl,” the prospect of that December 2024 disaster was small.
Hawk Tuah: Death Threats and Peace Follow Accident
Welsh told YouTube channel Channel 5 that he went into hiding for months after the token collapsed, driven by a wave of death threats and public outrage.
“I’m sitting here, and I’m the one getting hit with this,” he said. “It’s difficult.” He explained, pulling his head down whenever he went outside, preparing for hostility wherever he went. He said the incident left him traumatized.
HAWK memecoin was launched in December 2024 and exploded almost immediately. In just a few hours, its market capitalization exceeded $490 million. Then it fell quickly – down more than 90% the next day, down nearly $40 million.
It has since dropped to just over $1 million. The crash has been widely described as a carpet pull, although Welsh insists he had no hand in engineering it.
He told Channel 5’s Andrew Callaghan that he was approached and agreed to promote the coin without fully understanding what he was getting into.
He said he didn’t get any of the money and didn’t have the technical knowledge to launch the token in the first place. An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation examined his role in 2025. Investigators cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Blame Targets Creators, Not Welsh
An investor lawsuit filed in December 2024 named a group and organizations behind the coin – not Welsh. The lawsuit alleges that those groups are selling unregistered securities.
Welsh was completely excluded from the legislative process, following his account of being a public face rather than a decision maker.
However, not everyone is affected by his version of events. Onchain analyst ZachXBT said the wider crypto community has repeatedly warned Welsh against going ahead with the token launch.
He presented one anyway. He said that when it fell, he became silent as investors took losses.
Hawk Tuah Girl Now Tells Others To Avoid Crypto Completely
More than a year after the incident, Welsh says he still doesn’t understand the crypto industry. His advice to anyone thinking of getting involved: get out.
He told Callaghan that people need to be careful what they attach their names to – a lesson he learned the hard way.
Whether Welsh was a victim, a willing participant, or something in between is still up for debate. What is not disputed is that a coin was started, it failed, real people lost money.
His attorney’s estimate of $200,000 in retail losses may sound modest compared to the token’s huge value, but it was real money for real people who bought in his name.
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView
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