Hawk Tuah Girl’s HAWK Memecoin Hit With Securities Violation Lawsuit

Key Takeaways

• The creators of the Hawk Tuah memecoin, HAWK, are being sued in a securities lawsuit.
• Social media influencer Haliey Welch, known as the “Hawk Tuah Girl,” was not named in the suit.
• The HAWK token surged to a $491 million market cap upon launch before crashing by 90%.

Haliey Welch, the social media influencer behind the viral “Hawk Tuah Girl” persona, finds herself at the center of controversy after the HAWK memecoin—promoted under her name—allegedly rug-pulled just hours after launch.

A dozen investors filed a civil lawsuit on Dec. 19 in a New York federal court, accusing the creators and promoters of securities fraud. The lawsuit alleges the team behind HAWK orchestrated a pump-and-dump scheme that left investors with substantial losses.

Haliey Welch Unnamed in the Suit

While Welch was a prominent face of the HAWK promotion, the lawsuit notably excludes her as a defendant.

Instead, it names Tuah the Moon Foundation, which oversaw the token’s finances, the founding firm overHere Ltd., and lead promoter Alex Schultz.

The filing claims, “Many investors were first-time cryptocurrency participants drawn to the project through Welch’s involvement.”

It further states that the rapid devaluation of HAWK caused significant financial harm to investors who trusted Welch’s promotion and the project’s stated goals.

Welch has been absent from social media platforms, including X, for over two weeks following a heated online discussion where aggrieved investors confronted her and other project members.

Will Investors Recover Their Losses?

The lawsuit may offer some hope of financial recovery for investors, but skepticism abounds.

Crypto veterans blame investors for betting on speculative assets with no real-world utility, emphasizing the need for due diligence in a landscape rife with scams.

For Welch, her association with the failed token raises questions about the ethics of celebrity endorsements in the crypto space, even if she avoids direct legal accountability for HAWK’s collapse.