Rapper and entrepreneur Kanye West, now referred to as Ye, has revealed that he turned down a $2 million provide to take part in an alleged crypto rip-off concentrating 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 might have already misplaced vital sums.
“I used to be proposed 2 million {dollars} to rip-off my neighborhood. These left of it. I mentioned no and stopped working with the one who proposed it,” he mentioned in a submit on X.
West Was Provided $750,000 in Upfront Cost
The provide promised West an upfront fee of $750,000 in alternate for sharing a crypto promotion and preserving it reside for eight hours.
After this era, West was allegedly instructed to say his account was hacked to distance himself from the promotion. The deal additionally included an extra $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 submit, 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 instructed Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, providing to request his contact info for West.
West’s revelation has drawn combined reactions from the crypto neighborhood. Some praised his choice to show the tried fraud, whereas others speculated about his motives.
Crypto commentator Armeanio instructed that as a substitute of launching a memecoin, West ought to discover utilizing cryptocurrency for his merchandise.
“Movie star tokens usually carry a looking on retail,” Armeanio warned, hinting on the dangers of influencer-driven tokens.
Possibly it might simply be higher simply to have Kanye / ye promote his merchandise for cryptocurrencies or one thing like that. Embrace P2P cash.
Movie star tokens usually carry a looking on retail.
Crypto twitter celebrates the incorrect 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 Development of Movie star Memecoins
West’s submit comes amid a surge in celebrity-affiliated crypto tasks, lots of which have sparked controversy.
Just lately, Hailey Welch, referred to 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 subsequent day.
Welch later claimed she had been misled by the undertaking’s supervisor.
Equally, former U.S. President Donald Trump launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin simply earlier than his January inauguration.
Nevertheless, inside a day, the token plummeted 38%, coinciding with First Girl Melania Trump’s launch of a competing memecoin.
A current survey discovered that a good portion of traders in each Trump and Melania’s tokens had been first-time crypto patrons, reflecting the excessive danger of celebrity-endorsed digital property.
As reported, the crypto trade witnessed losses totaling $1.49 billion in 2024 as a consequence of hacks and fraud, marking a 17% lower from 2023.
Based on a report by blockchain safety platform Immunefi, hacks had been overwhelmingly the first trigger, accounting for $1.47 billion or 98.1% of the whole losses throughout 192 incidents.
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