Hawk Tuah's Rise and Fall: A Case Study in Memecoin Mismanagement

Haliey Welch, widely recognized as "Hawk Tuah," transformed her fleeting viral fame into a formidable media empire. With a burgeoning social media presence (230K followers on Instagram), lucrative brand partnerships, and the successful podcast Talk Tuah, Welch appeared to be transitioning from internet personality to business mogul.

That was until the 22-year-old launched her memecoin, $HAWK. Now Hawk Tuah isn’t flying so high.

$HAWK was launched on the Solana blockchain with considerable fanfare, initially skyrocketing to a $491 million market cap. This meteoric rise was short-lived, as the coin's valuation plummeted to under $20 million, according to data from DEX Screener.

The rapid decline raises questions about the project’s legitimacy and the motives behind its management. A now-deleted Twitter Spaces discussion further intensified suspicions, leading to widespread allegations that $HAWK is nothing more than a "celebrity rugpull."

To understand what happened, it is first necessary to examine the structure and decision-making processes that seemed to have underpinned the $HAWK launch.

Launching a memecoin might seem like a walk in the park. But doing it successfully is much harder. It requires capital, marketing, and technical expertise alongside something good in the first place. You need teamwork.

$HAWK seems to have had three distinct teams behind it:

• Welch’s Web2 team, responsible for her traditional brand
• Memetic Labs, led by founder Doc Hollywood, managing blockchain-related activities
• overHere, a new technical service provider specifically brought in to facilitate a novel token claim process

OverHere stated it would provide everything more in a transparent manner.

In a since-deleted X Spaces, Welch abruptly dropped off around 1:00am EST. Doc Hollywood dominated the conversation and was responsible for key aspects of the token release, such as tokenomics and marketing.

Another point of contention: the sale of millions of tokens post-launch by pre-sale investors, who were granted unrestricted access to vest their tokens. This effectively diluted the token’s value.

According to various industry sources, the high trading fees undermined the project's credibility and contributed to its downfall.

In conclusion, the saga of $HAWK is a reminder of the critical need for robust governance frameworks and unwavering transparency in Web3 initiatives. As the team endeavors to rebuild trust and redefine $HAWK’s purpose, we, the crypto industry, must heed this lesson: without clear accountability and open communication, even the most promising projects are susceptible to collapse.