Rapper Kanye West Coin Offering Controversy: Suspicious Activity on X Account, Another Carefully Orchestrated "Rug Pull"?

Original Article Title: "Kanye West Coin Offering Controversy: Attitude Reversal, X Account Sale Suspicion, Another Carefully Orchestrated 'Harvest'?"

Original Article Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

Recently, from publicly denouncing the Meme coin scam to being exposed for preparing the YZY token, and now with suspicions of his X account being sold, Kanye West's actions are full of contradictions and doubts. Is he a pawn under the celebrity effect, or a carefully planned operator? Is the frenzy of speculation in the crypto market being pushed towards a new form of "harvesting"?

This article will comprehensively review the Kanye coin offering controversy, unraveling the mystery surrounding traffic, capital, and the crypto world.

Kanye West (now known as Ye, also known as Ye-zi) is a legendary figure who transcends the boundaries of music, business, and fashion, having won 24 Grammys, been named one of Time's 100 most influential people twice, and his music has changed the entire hip-hop industry.

At his peak, Kanye West once held a net worth of $6.6 billion, making him the richest Black man in America. In January of this year, after Eton Venture Services evaluated Ye's music rights and his exclusive ownership of the YEEZY trademark, his net worth was confirmed to be as high as $27.7 billion.

From Rejecting Fraud to Personal Involvement?

On February 8, Kanye West posted on the X platform revealing that someone had approached him with a "collaboration": offering him $2 million to promote a Meme coin and thus defraud his fan community. Kanye flatly refused and exposed the chat records.

Following this, Kanye further stated, "I will not issue a token, I only make products, only do what I love and understand. I am too rich, there is no need for me to do anything else. Tokens that exploit hype to deceive fans are like the hyped sneaker culture."

This incident quickly came to light, and the discussion in the crypto community about the "celebrity impersonation X account coin offering" scam case surged, with Kanye also being briefly seen as a sober industry role model.

However, things began to reverse and become increasingly mysterious.

On the last Friday, CoinDesk reported that Kanye was actually preparing his own cryptocurrency token—YZY. Insiders revealed that in the token distribution plan, Kanye would receive a 70% share, liquidity supply would account for 10%, and investors would hold 20%. The YZY token will serve as the official currency of the Yeezy brand and can be used for website payments.

The contradictory attitude has caused a stir in the crypto community, leading to widespread questioning and criticism.

Continual Bewildering Actions

Amidst the YZY token controversy, Kanye West posted on the X platform: "All Ye-related memes in the current market are fake, and I will launch my own meme coin next week."

Subsequently, Kanye made multiple posts about cryptocurrency, with one tweet hinting at launching a token called "Swasticoin." In the tweet, he wrote, "I will first open my Swasticoin's CA (contract address) to Jewish people and my close friends."

At the same time, Kanye began frequently retweeting Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and even briefly followed CZ's account. When the community speculated that he would launch a coin on the BNB Chain, he unfollowed CZ and started following Polychain Capital founder Olaf Carlson-Wee.

However, as of now, most of Kanye's previous tweets have been deleted, leaving only 7 tweets on his X homepage along with one retweet of CZ's content.

Many Doubts, Has the X Account Been Compromised?

Multiple crypto Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) suspect that Kanye West's X account may have been sold, involving the BarkMeta team, which has previously operated crypto scam projects.

X user @doitbigchicago revealed that someone plans to launch a Ye-related token and intends to release it on the Solana chain. The project is associated with teams like BarkMeta, known for operating scam projects, who seem to have taken over Ye's account and are leveraging his influence to promote the token. Kanye may have sold the publishing rights of the X account for $20 million, receiving $17 million after a 15% management fee deduction.

Crypto KOL @lokithebird also provided several points of doubt as evidence:

· Kanye oddly following a "doginal" account

· High similarity in emoticon usage patterns with BarkMeta

· Changes in the brightness settings of Kanye's account

Early this morning, Kanye posted a tweet denying that he had transferred or delegated control of his account to BarkMeta, referring to Bark as only a "random follow from before." He emphasized that if he were to launch a cryptocurrency project in the future, he would announce it in a formal and clear manner.

Despite Kanye's public clarification, the controversy regarding the control of his account continues.

Persona Collapse, Repeated "Harvesting"?

This is not the first time Kanye has "harvested" the cryptocurrency community. In 2021, Kanye and his collaborators released several NFT-related products:

· Kanye West's single "Can U Be/Forever Mitus" sold as an NFT

· Kanye West's bulletproof vest sold as a physical item and an NFT for $50,000

However, by February 2022, Kanye suddenly stated on social media: "Don't make me do NFTs anymore." He claimed to be focusing on real-world creations such as food and fashion.

Yet, just three months later, he applied for trademarks related to the metaverse and NFTs for his streetwear brand Yeezus through his company and even deleted his previous negative comments about NFTs.

Perhaps Kanye is indeed such a capricious and profit-driven "businessman."

Kanye's coin issuance events are increasingly resembling a carefully orchestrated "plan" — everyone knows it could be a capital game using traffic and influence, yet some are still willing to participate. Some say to stay away from the crowded place, while others say where there is traffic and volatility, there is money to be made.

Under the massive temptation of profits, celebrity coin launches seem to have evolved into a mature industry chain, almost like a "fast-moving" game: the profits earned in the short term often come from fresh followers and their unconditional trust in celebrities. However, this model lacks long-term value support and is more like exploitation of the fan economy.

We cannot predict how many more celebrities will join this wave of coin launches in the future, nor can we accurately judge the success or failure of these projects. For investors, approaching celebrity coins with caution, avoiding blind speculation, may be the best strategy to avoid losses.

As for the subsequent developments of Kanye's coin issuance event, we await the official launch later this week.