Controversial American rapper Kanye West (Ye) is dominating crypto headlines after hinting at the possibility of launching his own meme coin token—YZY—before the end of February 2025.
In a now-deleted X post, Ye revealed that all currently circulating YZY are fake, sparking a fresh round of controversy within the crypto community.
With the Polymarket odds of the token’s imminent launch surpassing 60%, questions regarding its legitimacy have started mounting up.
This is no surprise, considering the fact that many investors are yet to recover from the ripple effect of last weekend’s LIBRA token’s pump-and-dump scandal involving the president of Argentina—Javier Milei.
With YZY mirroring the centralized tokenomics structure of LIBRA and other high-profile celebrity meme coins like TRUMP and MELANIA, market analysts believe its launch could ignite another meme coin turmoil in the broader market.
Will Kanye West’s new meme coin defy the odds or exhibit the same level of pump-and-dump pattern as its predecessors?
Is Kanye West Meme Coin Another Rug Pull?
For far too long, the crypto market has been witnessing a host of celebrity misfires, especially through the endorsement and launch of new meme coins. These celebrity-based projects often turn out to be quick rug pulls, robbing unsuspecting members of the investing community of their capital.
The most recent one—LIBRA—involved President Milei. The sudden rise and fall of this project sparked market-wide outrage as investors lost millions of dollars to the crash.
While Milei has since withdrawn his endorsement, calls for his impeachment have gained ground, and a recent report from Reuters revealed that a federal judge has been assigned to investigate the level of his involvement in the scandal.
That said, the pattern at which LIBRA and other alleged rug pulls were launched has already triggered strong resentment against celebrity-based meme coins. Blockchain security experts like Yu Xian share in the concern about the growing rate of meme coin scams, highlighting how scammers often pay celebrities to promote new launches and claim they were hacked.
Xian’s perspective aligns with Kanye West’s statement in early February, explaining how a group of scammers approached him to endorse a fraudulent Ye meme coin using his account. The self-proclaimed “Nazi” said he was offered an upfront payment of $750,000 and an additional $1.25 million, all of which he rejected.
He said coins prey on fans, emphasizing that he is “too rich to issue tokens; tokens are just a scam to exploit fans!”
With scores of celebrity hacks reported in recent years, Kanye’s revelation suggests most of these claims might not be true. That means many influencers willingly participated in these schemes, promoting them on their social media pages only to allege hacks later.
However, having declined the offer to promote Ye, it seems Kanye is now quietly preparing to launch his own personal token YZY before the end of February 2025.
The move—which could be in stark contrast to his initial “tokens are just a scam to exploit fans” comment—has sparked conversations about a potential rug pull, with industry watchers pointing at the project’s centralized tokenomics and Kanye’s controversial history as red flags.
In fact, there are even rumors that the upcoming YZY meme coin may not be issued by Kanye himself. In a February 22 tweet, a Web3 researcher, popular on X as Pix, alleged that Kanye’s account had been bought for $17 million by a guy who he allegedly “rugged” many projects, especially Metaluxe and Jenner.
So you’re telling me the guy who:
– Rugged Metaluxe, then slow-rugged DeFiApes for 22K ETH
– Launched Network Token, raised $1M, and rugged it
– Pulled a presale for POX, collected $172K, then let it bleed to zero
– Pump and dumped the Jenner Token
– Did 10+ other scams… pic.twitter.com/TqsJ6dQupM
— Pix
(@PixOnChain) February 22, 2025
Others like Nate Geraci—the president of ETF Store—have also warned investors to stay away from Kanye’s YZY token, saying those who participate in it should be prepared for potential losses.
Wild to me that there’s any uproar about this…
If he (ye) launches and you buy & lose $$$… it’s on YOU. Nobody to blame.
I don’t want to hear about crypto regulation, rug pulls, scams, etc.
It’s a wealth transfer from you to insiders.
You’re spinning broken roulette wheel. https://t.co/78HbZkHTVj
— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) February 22, 2025
As the debate concerning the legitimacy of Ye’s YZY meme coin continues to heat up the meme coin space, let’s take a look at its core fundamentals and predict where it could be heading if launched.
Kanye West Diving Into The Crypto Realm Through YZY Meme Coin Launch
Having lost multiple business deals with Shopify and other top brands due to his antisemitic remarks, Kanye is turning to crypto to boost his celebrity status.
His new meme coin launch YZY, according to a report from CoinDesk, will act as the official currency of his Yeezy brand, allowing holders to make purchases directly on the website.
While the genuine token is yet to go live, several YZY meme coins have already emerged on Solana’s Pump.fun, which Ye recently described as fake.
However, there seems to be plenty of skepticism around the upcoming YZY launch, with some analysts even calling it a potential rug pull.
Kanye actually seems like he might launch a memecoin
Does the pain for the trenches never end?
Another liquidity extraction event for the ages— DonAlt (@CryptoDonAlt) February 22, 2025
Apart from Ye’s controversial stance, one pronounced concern pointing to potential red flags in the project is its centralized distribution plan. According to reports, Ye will retain 70% of the entire token supply, with just 30% allocated to investors and liquidity.
This token distribution approach shares a striking resemblance with the ones embraced by other celebrity meme coins like Official Trump, Melania Meme, and most recently Libra token.
Take LIBRA for instance. The team took undue advantage of its centralized supply structure to cash out nearly $150 million a few hours after launch, thereby leaving the retail investors to bear the brunt of the catastrophe.
With Ye preparing to bring in a similar celebrity-based meme coin, critics say the probability of the project being another rug pull is very high.
YZY Price Prediction
In spite of the multiple red flags highlighted above, YZY can still capitalize on Ye’s powerful influence to capture the same level of hype as its predecessors. As such, it is likely that the token will experience a quick pump immediately after going live.
However, this pump could be followed by a devastating dump, due to fears occasioned by heavy insider knowledge and Ye’s control of 70% of the entire token supply.
Like it happened with LIBRA, there is a high chance that the YZY team will start withdrawing from the project liquidity pools after the initial pump, which could crash the token price and leave investors with losses.
Hence, while the project has yet to launch, the possibility that it could follow in the footsteps of other failed celebrity meme coins is quite high, making it a highly risky meme coin to consider.
Meme Index Could Be The Best Investment Alternative To YZY
With celebrity meme coin scams at an all-time high, investors are now seeking safe havens in other asset classes that do not only offer strong utility but have also undergone rigorous third-party smart contract audits.
Among a host of options available, Meme Index seems to have gained the most attention. This is no fluke, considering the project’s focus on streamlining the process of asset diversification for investors.
As the market grows increasingly volatile, investing in one token appears very risky. Investors need to focus more on diversifying their assets to hedge market risks and maximize their profits.
However, while this investment approach has proven to be quite effective, the possibility of having to pay multiple transaction fees and engaging in rigorous research has left many investors discouraged.
Addressing this challenge is Meme Index. Marketed as the world’s first decentralized meme coin index, this project provides a simple, cost-effective, and strategic way for degen investors to navigate the meme coin market.
What makes Meme Index even more special is its versatile meme coin indices which offer structured exposure to diverse meme coins in one go. There are four indices in total, each meant for a specific category of investors. Those seeking more stable investment options can pick the Meme Titan Index, which features high-cap meme coins such as Dogecoin, Pepe, Shiba Inu, and more.
The second one is dubbed the “Moonshot Index,” containing assets that are on the verge of hitting the $1 billion market cap benchmark. Next is the Midcap Index, equipped with high-risk assets, especially tokens ranging between $50 million to $250 million. And finally, there is the Frenzy Index, specifically for those who can stomach the highest level of risk.
Meanwhile, being a truly decentralized ecosystem, Meme Index allows the community to decide which tokens to add and remove from the indices. There are also staking rewards for early investors, allowing them to further optimize their returns even before the token is eventually launched on DEX.
Another notable element that clearly distinguishes Meme Index as a legitimate alternative to YZY is its two third-party audits from SolidProof and Coinsult, reassuring investors that it is not another rug pull.
Moreover, unlike YZY and other celebrity meme coins with centralized token supply, Meme Index’s tokenomics has been designed with community interest in mind.
The project’s presale has raised more than $3.8 million to date, and influential YouTube channels like 99Bitcoins have named it among the best meme coins to buy now.
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