‘WTF Is Going On?’ Fake Kanye West Coins Crash After Real YZY Token Launches

Meme coins created to play on purported associations with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, have crashed after the rapper launched his own official Solana coin on Wednesday.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been flirting with crypto for months, with his interest spawning two notable meme coin communities that adamantly believed they were part of a masterful performance art piece—or an alternate reality game. 

But holders of Yeezy Coin and Swasticoin found their hopes dashed after the launch of Ye’s YZY Money this week.

As rumors intensified on Tuesday that Ye was about to release his official meme coin, both tokens pumped hard. With Ye’s move apparently confirming that neither previous token was part of his plan, Yeezy Coin has plummeted 88% from Tuesday’s high while Swasticoin is down nearly 78% from its Wednesday high, according to DEX Screener.

“Yo WTF is going on? Are we still alive?” one user in the 4NBT Yeezy Coin Telegram group said (Yeezy Coin is also referred to as “4NBT,” which is part of the coin’s contract address).

“They emotionally harvested us for six months. Bye,” another person posted, moments after Ye posted the official YZY contract address. 

The 4NBT community has been surveying Ye’s social media antics with a fine-tooth comb for half a year, believing that the musician has been dropping hints that he would soon endorse the token. The Pump.fun token deployer, called “JewMoney,” would regularly change their bio, and holders would attempt to decode the messages as if they were biblical scripture.

Decrypt reported in March that the token communities had become a breeding ground for antisemitism and Nazi ideologies to spread, with some Swasticoin supporters devaluing cultural sensitivity around the Nazi swastika and engaging in Holocaust denial, along with the casual use of slurs and other harmful stereotypes.

Sections of the 4NBT community claimed that the project was criticizing “those that control the media,” or those who are filled with a lust to control the world’s wealth—tropes that have been used to justify discrimination and violence against Jewish people throughout history.

Reacting to Ye’s official token launch, a 4NBT Telegram moderator posted “I swear to god I’m turning into a real-life Nazi,” four times, before adding, “I’m planning the next Holocaust right now.”

Within both communities, shadowy figures emerged as leaders who conceived of theories that positioned their meme coin as the real token. Some believed they had direct connections to Ye’s camp, or were an “insider” as they put it.

“WTF KanYew lied,” an upset 4NBT buyer posted on Telegram. “Six months to find out you got scammed lol,” another replied. 

A major theory among the 4NBT community was that Swasticoin was part of an art piece created by Ye as a way of baiting those filled with greed before, in a false prophet twist, 4NBT was revealed as the real token.

That’s why, despite Ye posting the contract address to a separate coin, a video of him endorsing it, and the token hitting a peak market cap of $3.18 billion, there are still some community members who believe it’s all part of an elaborate game.

“It could be a deepfake of his mouth saying that,” a 4NBT holder theorized about the Ye video. “Buy more 4NBT,” another added. “So are we getting airdropped or did we get rugged?” another desperate community member asked.

One thread that the community is clinging onto is that the official YZY token website states that the team launched 25 tokens, with one being selected at random to be the real deal. As such, a dwindling minority of users still believe the launch is just another twist in the false prophet narrative.

“Is it only me that feels this isn’t as bad as it looks?” a Telegram user questioned. “Yeah, only you,” another shot back.

“I don’t quite understand. What Ye posted—is that the official coin, or just another misdirection? I just woke up,” a user wrote. “Misdirection,” came a quick reply, followed by an all-caps rant about the 25 token theory.

4NBT is now down over 94% from its all-time high market cap of $33.18 million to $1.9 million. Swasticoin is down over 99% from its $180 million peak market cap to just $1.1 million

Earlier Thursday, there was an X Spaces called “Resurrection” filled with 4NBT community members who haven’t let go yet. It ran for over nine hours, though had apparently been silent for the last three of those.