Ye Exposes Fraudulent Offer
Kanye West, who is now legally known as Ye, has come out to say he was offered $2 million to join a cryptocurrency scam. The supposed scheme would have West post a promotional crypto message on his 32.6 million X followers, then later on, say that his account had been hacked. By the time the fraud gets exposed, unsuspicious investors could have lost an amount considerable enough.
I was offered 2 million dollars to scam my community. Those left of it. I said no and stopped working with their person who proposed it,” West posted on X on Feb 7.
How the Scam Was Supposed to Work
West shared a screenshot detailing the planned fraud. He reportedly was offered an upfront payment of $750,000 to post a fake crypto promotion and leave it online for eight hours. After that period, he would publicly claim his account was hacked, distancing himself from the scheme. A final payment of $1.25 million would then be sent 16 hours later.
“The company asking you to do this will be scamming the public out of tens of millions of dollars,” the message read.
West Mentions Coinbase CEO
Shortly after announcing the attempted scamming, West shared a screenshot of a private conversation he had with an unidentified X user, asking for a crypto connection without any intermediaries. The response included the name of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, implying a direct contact with the crypto executive.
Crypto Commentators React
Crypto analyst Armeanio said West should look into selling merchandise using crypto rather than releasing a memecoin. “Celebrity tokens generally bring a reckoning on retail,” he added.
Others, like Crypto Vic think West isn’t going to launch a token and is simply hyping the possible launch to keep excitement high around his album. “He is a master marketer,” Crypto Vic said.
Recent Celebrity Crypto Scandals
The news comes in the aftermath of a slew of celebrity-connected crypto projects, a number of which have ended in controversy.
Hailey Welch, better known as the “Hawk Tuah” girl, has finally spoken out after months of silence over the HAWK memecoin debacle. The token launched on Dec. 4, 2024, surged to a market cap of $490 million within hours before crashing 91% the following day.
In another highly publicized case, former U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin just before his inauguration in January. The token immediately plunged 38% the following day after First Lady Melania Trump unveiled her own memecoin, which confused investors.
A recent survey showed that a large portion of the purchasers of the Trump and Melania tokens were first-time crypto investors, reflecting concerns about crypto hype driven by celebrities.
Final Thoughts
Kanye West’s decision to expose the crypto scam rather than participate in it has put conversations of ethics in celebrity endorsements into hyperdrive, with high-profile figures increasingly linked to digital assets in a continuing blur of the line between legitimate promotion and financial fraud.
