HAWK Tuah girl Haliey Welch appears to have gone underground as the creators of her Memecoin project are being sued and accused of scamming many first-time investors.
Influencer Welch, who went viral for her cheeky response during a YouTube street interview, became the face of $HAWK after gaining millions of followers on social media.
It collapsed from almost $500 million to below $60 million shortly after its launch on December 4, which has been described by critics as a “one-day pump and dump.”
Welch is not named in the suit, obtained by The U.S. Sun, and she is yet to comment on it publicly.
Defendants include Tuah The Moon Foundation, which was used to handle money taken from the sale; along with the coin’s creator, OverHere Ltd.; its executive, Clinton So, and the coin’s promoter, Alex Larson Schultz.
They are yet to respond after the suit was filed on December 19.
Lawyers for 12 plaintiffs alleged in the complaint, “Defendants leveraged the extensive social media following of Hailey Welch, a
prominent social media personality known as the ‘Hawk Tuah Girl,’ to market the Token as a groundbreaking cryptocurrency project.
“Through aggressive promotional campaigns and promises of future growth, Defendants created a speculative frenzy that caused the Token’s market value to spike shortly after launch, reaching a significant market capitalization.
“Defendants leveraged Welch’s celebrity status and connections to enhance the Token’s credibility and appeal, including discussing the $HAWK project during Welch’s podcasts featuring notable guests.”
However, they explained what happened after the token launched on the Solana blockchain.
Many of the investors were first-time cryptocurrency participants.”
The lawsuit states
“The launch had rapid growth in trading activity and market capitalization,” the suit claims.
“However, the Token’s value experienced significant volatility, losing a substantial portion of its value in hours.”
The token’s market value surged to $491 million, but shortly after that, it plummeted more than 90 percent.
The complaint also alleges, “Many of the investors were first-time cryptocurrency participants drawn to the project through Welch’s involvement.
“The rapid decline in the Token’s value caused substantial damages to investors who relied on Welch’s participation and the project’s stated roadmap.”
The complaint also alleges the sale of the $HAWK token violated the Securities Act as they didn’t register with the SEC.
Welch has not been seen publicly or posted on social media for weeks amid the scandal.
Fans claim she has gone MIA as she has also not released a new episode of her weekly podcast, Talk Tuah, for a fortnight.
Her last Instagram post promoting the show was on December 3.
The suit claims that, collectively, the plaintiffs suffered damages of more than $151,000 after the collapse of the memecoin.
One investor from Brooklyn, New York, allegedly lost $70,000, while another lost $18,500.
Hawk Tuah Girl’s Success
Hailey Welch, known as Hawk Tuah Girl, shot to fame earlier this year after being interviewed for a YouTube video in the street in Nashville, Tennesse, by Tim & De TV.
She was asked, “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time,” and her NSFW response resulted in the interview going viral on TikTok.
Welch admitted after, “The first week of it, I was so embarrassed. I wouldn’t come out of my house. I went to work, but that’s about it. Other than that, I didn’t go anywhere. But I went from being embarrassed to living in the moment.”
She later quit her job at a bed spring factory and went on to sell merchandise, do paid appearances, and even joined country star Zach Bryan on stage during a concert.
Welch later signed with Jake Paul’s company, Betr, for her own podcast, Talk Tuah, which premiered in September.
She has also released a dating advice app, Pookie Tools, and has been approached about many other projects.
The complaint also alleges, “Welch portrayed $HAWK as a unique project that would unite her diverse fan base, including listeners of her podcast ‘Talk Tuah,’ buyers of her merchandise, and supporters
of her philanthropic work.
“Defendants leveraged Welch’s celebrity status and connections to
enhance the Token’s credibility and appeal, notably discussing the $HAWK project during an episode of her podcast featuring entrepreneur Mark Cuban.”
Welch initially told Fortune that her memecoin was “not just a cash grab” and that she’d changed her opinion about crypto in recent months after educating herself on the topic.
At the time, her manager, Jonnie Forster, also insisted they were only giving out free tokens to social media followers who purchased her merchandise and not pushing people to simply buy them.
Forster claimed Welch would only own 10 percent of the supply but would be unable to sell it for a year.
