YZY Token Launch Sparks Frenzy Amid Insider Control and Liquidity Concerns

The newly launched YZY Money token, a Solana-based memecoin tied to Ye (formerly Kanye West), exploded with gains at debut but faces heavy criticism over insider dominance and a liquidity structure that may put retail investors at risk.

YZY Money surged nearly 6,800% to $3.16 shortly after launch on Thursday, with some tracking sites briefly pegging its market cap at $3 billion. The token’s release was promoted through Ye’s X account early in the Asian trading session, initially stirring fears that the account had been compromised. Later, a video appeared showing Ye discussing and confirming the token issuance—though it remains unclear whether it was the real Ye or an AI-generated likeness.

The YZY token is part of a broader ecosystem Ye’s team has been promoting, which includes a YZY token, a Ye Pay transaction processor, and a YZY Card for spending both YZY and USDC worldwide.

Details of YZY’s tokenomics were first disclosed by CoinDesk in February, revealing that 70% of the supply is allocated directly to Ye personally, 10% is reserved for liquidity, and only 20% is offered to the public.

Originally, Ye demanded an 80% stake—a structure mirroring the controversial TRUMP token tied to Donald Trump—but negotiations reduced his share. The project has been controversial from the outset, particularly given Ye’s earlier criticism of “coins prey[ing] on fans with hype” before endorsing YZY.

Sources indicate the token was modeled after TRUMP’s token launch, despite similar scandals in other countries, such as the pump-and-dump collapse of Argentina’s LIBRA coin backed by President Javier Milei.

Critics warn that such a concentrated insider distribution puts retail buyers at a significant disadvantage, especially with YZY’s single-sided liquidity pool.

According to the distribution schedule, 20% of tokens go to the public, 10% to liquidity, and 70% to Yeezy Investments LLC, which are locked for 24 months under a vesting agreement managed through Jupiter Lock.

To deter bots, the launch deployed 25 contract addresses, with only one randomly chosen as the official token contract—a so-called 1-in-25 anti-sniping mechanism marketed as a fairer launch. However, on-chain analysis suggests insiders had early knowledge.

Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain identified wallet 6MNWV8 as having advance knowledge of the contract address, attempting to buy YZY before launch. After launch, the wallet spent 450,611 USDC to acquire 1.29 million tokens at around $0.35 each, later selling 1.04 million tokens for 1.39 million USDC—netting over $1.5 million in profits while retaining nearly 250,000 tokens worth about $600,000.

“Insider wallet 6MNWV8 knew the contract address beforehand and attempted early purchases,” Lookonchain noted on X.

OnChain Lens highlighted a larger whale who invested 12,170 SOL (roughly $2.28 million) to acquire 2.67 million YZY tokens. This holder’s current position is valued at $8.29 million, yielding an unrealized gain of about $6 million.

The liquidity pool was seeded exclusively with YZY tokens, lacking a USDC pair. This single-sided liquidity allows developers or large holders to add or withdraw liquidity at will, facilitating potential cash-outs—similar to the problematic LIBRA token structure.

“Only $YZY was added to liquidity, no $USDC. This enables devs to sell by manipulating liquidity, reminiscent of $LIBRA,” Lookonchain commented.

Despite the initial hype and rapid price surge, YZY’s value has since dropped to nearly $1, causing significant losses for some early investors.

One wallet, 6ZFnRH, spent 1.55 million USDC to purchase 996,453 YZY tokens at $1.56 but sold them within two hours at $1.06 for 1.05 million USDC—a nearly $500,000 loss.