The Hawk Tuah memecoin lost more than 95 percent of its value on its first day of trading.
www.newsweek.com
What's New
Investors are suing people associated with a cryptocurrency launched by Hawk Tuah Girl Hailey Welch, following the crash of the memecoin named after her.
It lost more than 95 percent of its value in a single day when it was released on December 4. Lawyers for the investors wrote in their December 19 court filing that the lawsuit "arises from the unlawful promotion and sale of the Hawk Tuah cryptocurrency memecoin, known as the "$HAWK" token (the "Token" or "$HAWK"), which Defendants offered and sold to the public without proper registration."
Named in the suit are: Tuah The Moon Foundation, which was used to handle money taken in from the sale of the meme coin, and the coin's creator, OverHere Ltd and its executive, Clinton So and the meme coin's Los Angeles-based promoter, Alex Larson Schultz.
Newsweek sought email comment on Thursday from Welch; Tuah The Moon and OverHere Ltd.
Why It Matters
Welch
rose to fame after she was filmed by YouTube creators using the onomatopoeic phrase "hawk tuah" to describe a spitting action in a sexual context. She has since transformed her newfound fame into a successful merchandise line and a
podcast, Talk Tuah, which has featured business people such as
Mark Cuban.
The plaintiff attorneys say in their filing: "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."