Rapper and entrepreneur Kanye West, now often known as Ye, has revealed that he turned down a $2 million provide to take part in an alleged crypto rip-off focusing on his fan base.
The scheme reportedly concerned West posting a fraudulent crypto promotion to his 32.6 million followers and later claiming that his account had been hacked—by which period victims may have already misplaced vital sums.
“I used to be proposed 2 million {dollars} to rip-off my group. These left of it. I mentioned no and stopped working with the one that proposed it,” he mentioned in a put up on X.
West Was Provided $750,000 in Upfront Cost
The provide promised West an upfront cost of $750,000 in alternate for sharing a crypto promotion and holding it dwell for eight hours.
After this era, West was allegedly instructed to assert his account was hacked to distance himself from the promotion. The deal additionally included a further $1.25 million payout after 16 hours.
A screenshot shared by West detailed how the corporate behind the proposal deliberate to rip-off the general public out of tens of tens of millions of {dollars} by launching a “pretend Ye foreign money.”
Shortly after his preliminary put up, West shared a screenshot of a non-public dialog, asking an unnamed X consumer to supply a “crypto join” that wouldn’t require an middleman.
The consumer advised Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, providing to request his contact info for West.
West’s revelation has drawn combined reactions from the crypto group. Some praised his choice to show the tried fraud, whereas others speculated about his motives.
Crypto commentator Armeanio advised that as an alternative of launching a memecoin, West ought to discover utilizing cryptocurrency for his merchandise.
“Superstar tokens typically deliver a depending on retail,” Armeanio warned, hinting on the dangers of influencer-driven tokens.
Perhaps it might simply be higher simply to have Kanye / ye promote his merchandise for cryptocurrencies or one thing like that. Embrace P2P cash.
Superstar tokens typically deliver a depending on retail.
Crypto twitter celebrates the fallacious issues imo.— Armeanio (@ERG_Armeanio) February 7, 2025
In the meantime, Crypto Vic speculated that West isn’t planning to launch a token however may very well be constructing hype forward of an upcoming album launch.
The Broader Pattern of Superstar Memecoins
West’s put up comes amid a surge in celebrity-affiliated crypto tasks, lots of which have sparked controversy.
Not too long ago, Hailey Welch, often known as the “Hawk Tuah” woman, made her first public assertion after distancing herself from the HAWK memecoin—a token that skyrocketed to a $490 million market cap earlier than collapsing by 91% the following day.
Welch later claimed she had been misled by the challenge’s supervisor.
Equally, former U.S. President Donald Trump launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin simply earlier than his January inauguration.
Nonetheless, inside a day, the token plummeted 38%, coinciding with First Woman Melania Trump’s launch of a competing memecoin.
A current survey discovered that a good portion of buyers in each Trump and Melania’s tokens have been first-time crypto consumers, reflecting the excessive threat of celebrity-endorsed digital belongings.
As reported, the crypto business witnessed losses totaling $1.49 billion in 2024 as a result of hacks and fraud, marking a 17% lower from 2023.
In accordance with a report by blockchain safety platform Immunefi, hacks have been overwhelmingly the first trigger, accounting for $1.47 billion or 98.1% of the overall losses throughout 192 incidents.
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