Kanye West To Launch YZY Meme Coin?

According to reports, Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, is set to launch his own meme coin in the coming days, after a series of X posts hinting at the launch and a leaked email sent to CoinDesk announcing the impending launch.

Celebrity meme coins don’t have the best track record, at least for investors, with the likes of Donald Trump and Caitlyn Jenner launching meme coins that subsequently bombed, leaving investors, but probably not the celebrities themselves, heavily out of pocket.

Anybody can create and sell meme coins and this, coupled with the lack of utility that the tokens have, has created incredible levels of volatility. While that volatility can lead to losses, it also has the potential to yield significant gains. As such, some crypto speculators specifically look for the best crypto presales of upcoming meme coins.

According to crypto author Medb Kiely-Cuddy, if any of these meme presales can grab a major exchange listing, it can propel their prices skywards and net potentially big gains for early investors.

However, not all meme coins go through presale, and some, at least on the face of it, have more utility than others. According to recent reports, embattled rapper Kanye West is preparing to launch his own meme coin, $YZY, which will be used as the primary currency to buy his Yeezy fashion line clothing.

There are considerable concerns that this is a potential pump-and-dump scheme: concerns that are driven by the fact that West will retain 70% of the tokens himself. However, it is possible that the token could have genuine utility. Shopify cut ties with Ye, meaning he can’t sell his clothing line on their platform. Additionally, the rapper has seen multiple partnerships and endorsements fall apart because of accusations of anti-semitic social media posts. Despite numerous contract terminations, West claims to still have a net worth of $2.77 billion. 

While it is true that he could still offer his branded goods and take payment in any coin, West may see the launch of his own meme coin as a way of retaining more control over his once impressive business empire.

The tokenomics are concerning. Ye will retain 70% of the initial supply with 10% being used for liquidity and the remaining 20% being put into supply. That kind of split would make it very easy for a rug pull: accusations of which are becoming increasingly commonplace in the celebrity meme coin industry.

In December 2024 Hailey Welch, the Hawk Tuah girl, was accused of initiating a rug pull after the $HAWK coin lost 90% of its value, although it seems unlikely Welch herself had anything to do with it. Caitlyn Jenner is also facing a class-action lawsuit for her JENNER coin, and while Donald Trump admitted he knows very little about cryptocurrency, which is an unusually frank admission by the President, his TRUMP coin lost investors more than $2 billion in its first few days of trading.

According to reports, the YZY coin will launch this week. This information was stated in an email received by CoinDesk from Hussein Lalani, who had an official yeezy.com email address and claimed to be Ye’s financial officer. The email asked for a publishing embargo but Coindesk declined the embargo and published the email.

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