More than 70,000 wallets found themselves nursing painful losses after diving into the YZY token, reportedly tied to Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, according to Bubblemaps, a blockchain visualization platform, in a recent X post.
Launched just last week on Solana, this memecoin was marketed as part of a broader “YZY Money” vision, which promised not only payment infrastructure but also a dedicated branded card.
Insider Moves and Thin Liquidity Turned the Launch Toxic
Yet, examining on-chain evidence reveals a familiar tale: a handful of insiders and early bird wallets swooped in, leveraging the scant liquidity and frenzied speculations to scoop millions—while the bulk of traders bore the brunt of the fallout.
Here’s the grim breakdown from Bubblemaps:
- Over 70,000 traders in total
- More than 51,862 wallets lost between $1 and $1,000
- 5,269 wallets faced losses from $1,000 to $10,000
- 1,025 wallets down by $10,000 to $100,000
- 108 wallets suffered losses from $100,000 to $1 million
- 3 wallets took hits exceeding $1 million each
Conversely, only 11 addresses managed to pull in profits north of $1 million, showcasing the staggering disparity where merely 0.015% of traders came out ahead.
Middle to High-Tier Gains and Losses
In addition, approximately 99 wallets made gains over $100,000, while about 2,541 wallets cleared profits of at least $1,000. Despite these isolated wins, the collective loss tally for retail traders hovered around a staggering $8.2 million.
While roughly 18,000 wallets recorded profits, the lion’s share of wealth stayed heavily concentrated in the hands of the top 11 whales, leaving the remainder to at best break even, or at worst, suffer crushing defeats.
Structural Weaknesses from the Start
This lopsided distribution wasn’t a surprise to market observers. CoinDesk’s earlier analysis highlighted the glaring flaws baked into YZY’s tokenomics:
- 70% of the total supply was allocated to Yeezy Investments LLC and locked within Jupiter’s vesting schedule.
- Only 20% was made available to the public.
- The remaining 10% was dedicated to liquidity provision.
Compounding matters, the liquidity pool consisted solely of YZY tokens without pairing against a stablecoin. This architecture paved the way for sudden liquidity drain events, reminiscent of the brief LIBRA token episode that briefly stirred Argentina’s crypto scene back in February.
Early Access Wallets and Profit-taking
Blockchain sleuths tracked down privileged wallets granted early entry. For instance, address 6MNWV8 reportedly shelled out 450,611 USDC to acquire 1.29 million YZY tokens at $0.35 each, flipped 1.04 million tokens for 1.39 million USDC, and still sits on about 249,907 YZY—valued around $600,000—locking in approximately $1.5 million in quick gains.
Current Market Snapshot
| Market Capitalization | $544.9 million (down from $3 billion peak) |
| Liquidity Pool | $42.7 million |
| Number of Holders | 26,590 (declined sharply) |
| Daily Trading Volume | $1.8 million (a fraction of initial activity) |
The token’s current stats underscore a steep drop from its initial fever pitch, echoing a common narrative for celebrity-endorsed memecoins: unless you caught the wave early, life-altering returns remain a pipe dream.
Final Takeaway
YZY’s trajectory mirrors the all-too-familiar saga of hype-driven crypto tokens, where the early insiders and whales bank the big bucks, leaving most retail participants nursing their wounds well after the dust settles. The structural setup and liquidity design were red flags from the get-go, foreshadowing an uneven playing field that played out just as skeptics warned.
Outreach requests to Ye for his take on the situation were sent via email but remain unanswered at this time.
