Ye’s YZY Token Sparks Controversy—Will Fans Buy In?

• Ye’s YZY token allocates 70% of the supply to the rapper, raising concerns about centralized ownership and potential investor imbalance.  
• Critics worry that the YZY token may follow the volatile path of celebrity-driven coins like Trump’s, lacking long-term utility and fueling price manipulation fears.

Rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is preparing to launch a new token, the YZY token, the official digital currency for his Yeezy clothing brand. This move has raised concerns within the crypto community, particularly concerning Ye’s controversial past and the token’s highly centralized ownership structure.

According to a February 21 report by a leading media outlet, the YZY token will have a total supply where 70% is reserved for Ye, with the remaining 30% divided between liquidity and investor shares. 

This allocation has been met with debate, as many question the portion controlled by Ye, considering the vesting schedule that locks his tokens for up to 12 months. While Ye’s team insists that the vesting plan will prevent him from selling all his tokens immediately, critics argue that the large founder’s share could still lead to an imbalance that favors Ye over investors.

The YZY token was initially scheduled to launch on Thursday but has since been delayed until Friday. This information came from an email from Hussein Lalani, who claims to be the chief financial officer of Yeezy. The email outlined the details of the token’s distribution, which was later confirmed by three anonymous sources familiar with the project. However, Coindesk chose not to honor an order attached to the release, making the information public sooner than planned.

Ye’s Troubled History and Attempted Coin Launch

The rapper’s move into the crypto market comes after a series of public controversies, including his racist remarks that led to severed partnerships with major companies like Adidas, Balenciaga, and Shopify. This history has made crypto enthusiasts wary of supporting Ye’s ventures, including the YZY token.

However, Ye previously dismissed the idea of launching a coin, calling it exploitative. In 2022, he publicly stated that coins “prey on fans with hype.” Despite this, Ye reached out to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and was offered $2 million to create a coin but was declined then. He now appears to have changed his stance, raising questions about the motivations behind his decision to create a digital asset.

Comparisons to Trump’s TRUMP Coin

Sources close to Ye’s YZY project have noted that Ye is drawing inspiration from former President Donald Trump’s TRUMP meme coin, which was launched just before his second inauguration. Trump’s coin saw a similar insider-heavy distribution, with 80% of the coin held by CIC Digital, a company connected to Trump. Ye reportedly aimed for an 80% stake in YZY but eventually settled for a 70% share.

As reported by ETHNews, critics argue that such centralization creates risks for retail investors, as seen in the recent controversy surrounding Argentina’s meme coin LIBRA, endorsed by President Javier Milei. LIBRA was revealed to be a “pump-and-dump” scheme, leading to widespread backlash. The similarities between LIBRA and Ye’s YZY token have fueled concerns that YZY could follow a similar trajectory of hype-driven volatility.

Ye’s foray into the crypto world has sparked debate concerning his ownership stake in the token and the possibility of price manipulation. While some believe that Ye could replicate the success of celebrity-driven coins like Trump’s, others remain cautious, given the lack of utility behind many celebrity tokens.

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