Hayley Welch, an online social media influencer widely known as “Hawk Tua Girl,” said the collapse of the “Hawk” meme coin she promoted in 2024 and the ensuing public backlash “traumatized” her.
“I was talked into doing something that I really didn’t know anything about, but you have to be really careful about what you put your name on,” Welsh told Andrew Callaghan on Channel 5’s YouTube channel on Friday.
Wales said he fully cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation in 2025 and was cleared of any wrongdoing, and that he did not have the funds he received from launching the meme coin or the technical expertise to launch the coin.
She added that the total amount lost by “real people” from the meme coin’s failed release was not that large, with lawyers estimating the total amount lost by individual investors at about $200,000.
Despite this, Ms Wales said she received death threats and tried to keep a low profile in the months after the incident, which took a toll on her mental health. she said:
“I started getting death threats and everything. People were telling me they owed me all this money, and I was like, ‘I’m not doing this.'” I’m sitting here, and I’m the one getting hammered for this. It’s rough, isn’t it? It’s one of those things where you bow your head when you leave the house. ”
But not everyone was convinced by Wales’ comments. “No one should feel bad about ‘trauma,'” says on-chain detective ZachXBT.
“She started posting about Memecoin and the whole[crypto Twitter]told her, ‘Please don’t launch the token.’” “She launches Memecoin anyway, then blames her partner and disappears from social media, her followers lose their funds,” he added.
Related: Prime Minister Takaichi denies “Sanae token” after meme coin reaches new high of $28 million
HAWK meme coin crashes and catches fire shortly after arrival
The HAWK Meme Coin was launched in December 2024 and skyrocketed to a market capitalization of over $490 million within hours of its launch.
Hawk fell more than 91% the next day, dropping its market cap to about $41 million, and was widely characterized as having the rug pulled from under it.
In December 2024, an investor lawsuit was filed against the team and entity that created and managed the memecoin launch for selling unregistered securities, but not Wales.
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