Nikolas Sargeant
Rapper and entrepreneur Kanye West has launched a new cryptocurrency token called YZY on the Solana blockchain, marking his entry into the digital asset space. West revealed the project in a post on X, writing, "YEEZY MONEY IS HERE. A NEW ECONOMY, BUILT ON CHAIN." The announcement immediately directed fans and traders to an official website showcasing the YZY ecosystem.
The token briefly reached a $3.2B market cap before retracing. The explosive debut saw the token initially crossing $3 before experiencing significant volatility. The launch of YZY (Yeezy Coin) in August 2025 created huge excitement on the Solana network, especially after listing on platforms like Gate Alpha. West also promoted the launch with a $20,000 prize pool to generate additional interest among crypto traders and his fanbase.
The YZY project appears to be more than just a meme coin, with plans for an integrated ecosystem. Kanye West launched YZY, a new token on Solana, with an ecosystem including Ye Pay and YZY Card. YZY can be traded on Solana's Meteora platform, with the project's published pool providing liquidity. This suggests West's ambitions extend beyond simple token speculation to practical payment solutions and financial services.
However, the launch has not been without controversy. Analysts flagged insider activity despite anti-sniping measures. Multiple insider wallets prepared funds in advance and immediately bought $YZY. The token's extreme volatility and questions about insider trading have raised concerns among crypto analysts, even as trading activity remains high despite the significant price pullback from its initial peak.
The YZY token launch follows an even more controversial cryptocurrency announcement from West earlier this year. In a series of erratic social media posts, West revealed plans to launch a cryptocurrency called "Swasticoin," which sparked widespread condemnation due to its offensive name and his accompanying inflammatory rhetoric toward the Jewish community. The announcement raised serious concerns about extremist tokens in the cryptocurrency market and whether decentralized platforms are being exploited to spread harmful ideologies. While the Swasticoin project appears to have been abandoned, the controversy underscores the ongoing scrutiny around celebrity-backed tokens and their potential for both financial and reputational damage. We
