Her lawyer places the full losses from the botched HAWK token launch at roughly $200,000 — a determine that, on the planet of crypto, barely registers. However for Hailey Welsh, higher identified on-line because the “Hawk Tuah Woman,” the fallout from that December 2024 catastrophe was something however small.
Hawk Tuah: Dying Threats And Silence Adopted The Crash
Welsh advised YouTube channel Channel 5 that she went into hiding for months after the token’s collapse, pushed there by a wave of demise threats and public anger.
“I’m sitting right here, and I’m the one getting hit for this,” she stated. “It’s tough.” She described pulling her head down every time she stepped exterior, bracing for hostility wherever she went. The expertise, she stated, left her traumatized.
The HAWK memecoin launched in December 2024 and exploded virtually instantly. Inside hours, its market cap surged previous $490 million. Then it collapsed simply as quick — down greater than 90% the subsequent day, bottoming out round $40 million.
It has since fallen to simply over $1 million. The crash was broadly labeled a rug pull, although Welsh insists she had no hand in engineering it.
She advised Channel 5’s Andrew Callaghan that she was approached and agreed to advertise the coin with out absolutely greedy what she was entering into.
She stated she obtained not one of the proceeds and lacked the technical data to launch a token within the first place. A Federal Bureau of Investigation probe examined her position in 2025. Investigators cleared her of any wrongdoing.
Lawsuit Targets Creators, Not Welsh
An investor lawsuit filed in December 2024 named the workforce and entities behind the coin — not Welsh. The swimsuit alleged these events bought unregistered securities.
Welsh was stored out of the authorized motion fully, which tracks along with her account of being a public face reasonably than a decision-maker.
Nonetheless, not everyone seems to be moved by her model of occasions. Onchain analyst ZachXBT stated the broader crypto neighborhood had warned Welsh repeatedly to not transfer ahead with a token launch.
She launched one anyway. When it collapsed, he stated, she went quiet whereas traders absorbed the losses.
Hawk Tuah Woman Now Tells Others To Keep away from Crypto Solely
Greater than a 12 months after the incident, Welsh says she nonetheless doesn’t perceive the crypto trade. Her recommendation to anybody contemplating getting concerned: keep out.
She advised Callaghan that folks have to be cautious about what they connect their title to — a lesson she discovered the laborious approach.
Whether or not Welsh was a sufferer, a prepared participant, or one thing in between stays a matter of debate. What isn’t in dispute is that the coin was launched, it failed, and actual folks misplaced cash.
Her lawyer’s $200,000 estimate of retail losses could sound modest in opposition to the token’s once-massive valuation, however it was actual cash that belonged to actual individuals who purchased in on her title.
Featured picture from Getty Photos, chart from TradingView
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