Haliey Welch, popularly known as the ‘Hawk Tuah Girl,’ has spoken out regarding the legal action taken against the dubious organization responsible for launching her cryptocurrency coin. The value of the token plummeted by more than 90 percent shortly after hitting a $490 million market cap.
It is worth noting that despite the lawsuit filed on Thursday, Welch was not implicated as a defendant. Although her name and image were used to endorse the ‘$HAWK token,’ which was introduced on December 4.
‘I am taking this matter very seriously and feel the need to communicate with my supporters, the investors who have suffered losses, and the wider community,’ stated the social media personality in a message shared on X on Friday.
‘I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter,’ she continued.
Welch then provided a link to a form that affected investors can fill out on the website of cryptocurrency litigator Burwick Law, the firm that is representing the plaintiffs suing the creators of $HAWK.
Some of the responses to Welch were various forms of ‘I told you so’ from people who are experienced in the crypto space.
ZachXBT, a well known crypto investigator, shared a screenshot of someone warning investors that Welch would do a crypto coin.
‘Only if you were warned by the entire community prior to launching the token,’ he replied to Welch’s post about the lawsuit.
Haliey Welch, who got launched into social media superstardom as ‘Hawk Tuah Girl,’ broke her silence Friday about the lawsuit filed against the failed cryptocurrency project she was attached to
Welch responded to the lawsuit filed Thursday against the creators of ‘$HAWK token,’ which cratered by 90 percent hours after reaching a $490 million market cap
Others in the replies to her post dunked on the people who thought $HAWK would be good investment.
One called what Welch was doing a ‘cop out,’ and said: ‘You promoted it. It was purchased because your likeness was attached . You deserve the same consequences as any “responsible party.”‘Â Â
But the vast majority of people were simply trolling Welch by joking that they lost their life savings or by asking her if she ‘slept well.’
This is an apparent reference to a Twitter space she engaged in about two weeks ago that was meant to be a forum for people to ask questions about her failed crypto project.
She didn’t participate much in the space, only interjecting here and there. But her involvement abruptly ended when she declared she needed to go to bed as the coin’s creators were being grilled over the alleged scam.
‘Hey guys! I hate to interrupt you Nick, but hello there. But anywho, I’m gonna go to bed, and I’ll see you guys tomorrow,’ she said.
The lawsuit named defendants Alex Larson Schultz, better known online as Doc Hollywood, and the Tuah The Moon Foundation, the organization said to be behind $HAWK.
Schultz, who emerged as the main defender of Welch and the crypto project, appears to have deleted his entire social media presence.Â
Also named in the suit was token launch organization overHere and Clinton So, the founder of overHere.
Alex Larson Schultz, better known online as Doc Hollywood, is pictured alongside Welch and her friend Chelsea Bradford. Following the controversy, Schultz appears to have deleted his entire social media presence
The lawsuit accused the project’s creators of taking advantage of first-time crypto participants by using Welch’s fame and celebrity to convince them to invest
The lawsuit accused the project’s creators of taking advantage of first-time crypto participants by using Welch’s fame and celebrity to convince them to invest.
It also argued that the crypto token they promoted was sold as unregistered security.Â
To lawfully sell a security, a company needs to file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission providing financial statements, information about what their company does, and who is employed by the company.
According to the agency, the regulation is in place to prevent people from falling victim to fraudsters. If the violation is prosecuted criminally, selling unregistered securities is punishable by a maximum of five years in federal prison.
A total of seventeen people who claim they lost over $151,000 from investing in $HAWK are behind the lawsuit.
The Thursday complaint also alleges that the day after the failed launch, Clinton So – who initially launched the coin – made the Tuah Foundation an off-shore entity and sold 17 percent of the tokens through the organization to a subset of people to skirt securities laws.
However, defendants continued marketing the remaining 83 percent of the tokens, making ‘no serious attempt’ to restrict purchasers outside of the US.
‘The project clearly was intended to take advantage of the American market,’ the complaint said.
Welch has faced harsh backlash online as critics accuse the 22-year-old and her team of participating in the ‘money-grab’ scheme, which she later denied on X
The failed memecoin was inspired by the internet celebrity who was launched into the spotlight earlier this year following a cheeky comment during a TikTok video that went viral
By Clinton So ‘linking the success of the social media influencer like Welch, he literally said that the Token holders would essentially be shareholders,’ the investors said.
‘Despite these clear indications of its status as a security, the $HAWK Token was not registered by defendants,’ they added.
‘We have been extremely transparent about the limited scope and extent of our involvement in the Hawk Tuah token project. We are confident that we have done nothing wrong,’ a spokesperson for overHere said in an email. ‘As for any litigation, we will let the process play out in court.’
Welch has faced harsh backlash online as critics accuse the 22-year-old and her team of participating in the ‘money-grab’ scheme, which she later denied on X.
‘Copy and pasting: Hawkanomics: Team hasn’t sold one token and not 1 KOL was given 1 free token We tried to stop snipers as best we could through high fee’s in the start of launch on @MeteoraAG. Fee’s have now been dropped,’ she posted.Â
The failed memecoin was inspired by Welch who was launched into the spotlight earlier this year following a cheeky comment she made about oral sex during a TikTok video that went viral.Â
She has since made the most of her stardom as she launched custom merchandise company and a hit podcast, ‘Talk Tuah’, which has featured comedians like Hannah Berner and Whitney Cummings, pop star JoJo Siwa, and entrepreneur Mark Cuban.
