U.S. hip-hop provocateur Kanye West, often known as Ye, has launched a Solana-based token referred to as Yeezy Cash (YZY), teasing a sprawling crypto funds ecosystem that places his model — and his followers’ wallets — squarely within the highlight.
In a Thursday announcement on X, West wrote: “Yeezy Cash is right here… A brand new economic system, constructed on chain,” sharing the token’s contract deal with and a hyperlink to an internet site for purchasing, promoting, and sending YZY.
An alleged design of the YZY Card
The YZY ecosystem, based on West’s web site, contains “Ye Pay,” a fee processor permitting retailers to simply accept credit score and crypto funds, and the “YZY Card,” a non-custodial debit card for spending YZY tokens and stablecoins like USDC and USDT at retailers worldwide.
Checkout Choices
As of now, YZY seems as a checkout possibility on West’s official merchandise website, although it’s not but useful.
Solely 15% of Merchants Revenue
The token’s debut was turbulent. YZY briefly surged to a $3 billion market capitalization inside 40 minutes of its launch earlier than retreating to round $1.05 billion, based on Dexscreener.
Analytics agency Nansen shared knowledge with The Defiant exhibiting that over 60,000 wallets traded YZY throughout the first day. Of those, solely 9,413 wallets realized earnings of greater than $10.
There are additionally clear indicators of fading memecoin hype as YZY logged simply $724 million in first-day buying and selling, nicely under the $29.5 billion generated through the debut of U.S. President Donald Trump’s memecoin.
YZY Chart
Issues about insider focus rapidly adopted. Coinbase director Conor Grogan famous in an X put up that a big portion of the token provide was initially held by insiders, with one multi-signature pockets controlling as a lot as 87% at one level.
Regardless of these accusations, YZY is buying and selling at a $1 billion valuation, based on knowledge from the Jupiter decentralized crypto alternate.
West’s entry into crypto marks a stark shift from his earlier statements. In February, he rejected the concept of launching a coin, saying memecoins “prey on followers with hype,” and revealed he had turned down a $2 million supply to advertise a pretend Ye token.
