In the U.S., law firms are reaching out to individuals who invested in a cryptocurrency that was introduced by ‘Hawk Tuah Girl’ Haliey Welch, following complaints from buyers about losing their ‘life savings’ after its value nosedived.
Welch gained viral fame earlier this year with her well-known response to the question about ‘what makes a guy go crazy in bed?’ and subsequently launched her cryptocurrency, HAWK, on December 4.
In an interview with Fortune, Welch’s manager, Jonnie Forster, described the launch as ‘tokenizing, in a sense, Haliey’s fan base’.
After its release, HAWK quickly reached a market cap of nearly $500 million, as reported by Forbes. However, within 20 minutes, its value drastically dropped from approximately $490 million to just $41 million.
This swift decline sparked significant backlash from Welch’s supporters, with an individual accusing her: “I am a huge fan of Hawk Tuah but you took my life savings. I purchased your coin $Hawk that you were so excited about with my life savings and children’s college education fund as well.”
In response to the turmoil, Welch defended the launch, posting on Twitter: “Hawkanomics: Team hasn’t sold one token and not 1 KOL was given 1 free token. We tried to stop snipers as best we could through high fee’s in the start of launch on @MeteoraAG. Fee’s [sic] have now been dropped.”
Investors remain upset over what is being termed a ‘rug pull’, where crypto creators offload their holdings, causing a price collapse.
Consequently, at least one U.S. law firm is inviting investors to contact them to explore potential legal actions.
Burwick Law, situated in New York, has expressed its support for investors who have suffered losses due to abandoned celebrity-endorsed NFT projects and tokens.
“While everyday people take losses, celebrities walk away richer. We’re here to help bring accountability to a space that desperately needs it,” the firm stated in a Twitter post.
The law firm further addressed investors of Welch’s coin, stating: “If you lost money on $HAWK, contact our firm to learn about your legal rights. Our firm represents thousands of nft and token investors in securities matters.”
At the coin’s launch, Welch assured Fortune it wasn’t simply a cash grab, expressing her genuine interest in leveraging crypto to engage with her fans.