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Crypto scammers lured Kanye West to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency named after himself for two million dollars. West disclosed the attempted scam on his X account on February 7, 2025.
The proposed scheme would have paid West $750,000 upfront to promote a fake “Ye coin.” West will then acquire an additional $1.25 million by claiming his account was hacked. “I was proposed 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 Friday.
West’s disclosure comes amid growing concerns about celebrity involvement in cryptocurrency fraud. Blockchain security expert Yu Xian, founder of SlowMist, confirmed such schemes are widespread in the industry. “I believe this kind of scam exists. The scammers get a big [influencer] to act in the scheme, post a CA, and eight hours later, the big [influencer] tweets that they got hacked,” Xian explained.
Several high-profile social media accounts have been allegedly hacked to promote cryptocurrency tokens in recent months. One incident resulted in millions of losses when scammers took over Jupiter Exchange’s official X account. Last December, Canadian rap star Drake’s account was used to promote a Solana-based token called $ANITA, generating $5 million in trading volume before being exposed.
The incident has prompted deeper scrutiny of claimed social media hacks. Crypto influencer NotEezzy questioned the authenticity of these security breaches. “Are you telling me all the big accounts getting ‘hacked’ and posting a memecoin over the last several months are fake?” NotEezzy asked.
Recent market data from the past three months shows the volatile nature of celebrity-linked cryptocurrencies. Out of the top 50 meme coins listed, only six have shown positive returns, and losses for the majority of tokens ranged from 9% to 92%.
Recent internet sensation Hailey Welch, known as the “Hawk Tuah girl,” saw her HAWK token plummet 91% from a $490 million market cap to $41 million in just 24 hours last December. U.S. President Donald Trump’s meme coin also faced a 38% decline following a rival token launch by First Lady Melania Trump.
Crypto analyst Armeanio advised that if West ever enters the crypto space, he should focus on using blockchain technology for merchandise sales rather than launching tokens. “Celebrity tokens generally bring a reckoning on retail,” he warned.
West emphasized his stance against cryptocurrency schemes in a follow-up post: “I’M NOT DOING A COIN. I MAKE PRODUCTS. I ONLY DO THINGS I AM PASSIONATE AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT. I’M TOO RICH TO DO ANYTHING ELSE. COINS PREY ON THE FANS WITH HYPE, JUST LIKE HYPED-UP SNEAKER CULTURE.”
In the past week, West has gone on a rampage of controversial posts on X, with tweets declaring “I’m a Nazi,” and “I love Hitler.” West then announced his departure from X on Sunday night, thanking Elon Musk “for allowing me to vent” before deactivating his account.
