Kanye issues coin caught in insider trading scandal: on-chain data reveals the Meme coin YZY's million-dollar play people for suckers trap.

Rapper superstar Kanye West (Ye) launched the YZY Meme Token on the Solana Blockchain on August 21, which has sparked significant controversy. On-chain analysis shows that the token's market capitalization soared to $3 billion within 40 minutes of its launch, only to experience a big dump of two-thirds, resulting in a loss of $21.4 million for retail investors, while associated internal wallets profited $50.4 million. Investigations revealed that a key figure named Mikey Shelton has mysterious ties to early TRUMP and LIBRA token trades, making this event a typical case of insider manipulation in celebrity tokens. This article deeply exposes the harvesting mechanisms behind celebrity coins through on-chain data tracking, interest association analysis, and historical pattern comparisons.

[Event Overview: 3 billion market capitalization bubble and retail investors' blood and tears]

(Source: Nansen) The YZY Token officially launched on the Solana chain on August 21, 2025, showcasing a dramatic price movement:

• Market capitalization surged to $3 billion within 40 minutes of opening.
• Subsequently fell to one third of its peak value.
• The number of trading wallets on that day reached 62,465.
• The top 500 Wallets made a profit of 50.4 million USD.
• Retail investors have accumulated losses of 21.4 million dollars.
• Maximum single profit of 3 million USD, maximum loss of 1.3 million USD
• The liquidity pool generated $10 million just from transaction fees.

This extreme polarized trend immediately raised questions in the community, and several on-chain analysts began tracking the flow of funds.

[Key Figure: Mike Shelton's Insider Trading Suspicions] The core figure of the event, Maiki Shelton, had previously appeared in Kanye's social circle. In February 2025, Kanye publicly stated in a conversation with Shelton: "You are the brand, and whatever you do will succeed. What matters is who you trust." This ambiguous statement was astonishingly validated after the Token launch.

Sheldon boldly claimed in an Instagram story: "Earned $160,000 in 10 minutes after opening, now close to $300,000 and still haven't sold." Although the story was quickly deleted, it has been widely circulated. Even more suspicious is the bizarre state of his social media: the last tweet dates back to August 2023, and his Instagram is set to private, with his profile noting a background of "Baylor University and Stanford University"—could it be that a graduate from prestigious schools orchestrated this pump and dump?

[On-chain evidence: TRUMP-LIBRA-YZY three-way association] Multiple on-chain analysts have found decisive evidence:

1. Dethective identified two "sniper Wallets" that profited 23 million dollars from YZY and LIBRA Tokens.

   • The wallet has completed the fund preparation before the token goes live.
   • Conduct large-scale transactions through liquidity pools
   • Only trade YZY and LIBRA, never involved with other Tokens.

2. The Bubblemaps report shows that the first YZY buyer is Naseem.

   • The trader previously made over 100 million USD in profit on the TRUMP meme coin.
   • The first transaction invested $250,000, has achieved a profit of $800,000 and holds a position of $600,000.
   • The same group of wallets repeatedly appeared in the early transactions of TRUMP, LIBRA, and YZY.

3. The time patterns are highly similar:

   • All tokens are celebrity-endorsed tokens
   • All have shown the phenomenon of wallet pre-loading before going live.
   • The same batch of addresses continuously gains priority trading access

[Industry Reaction: The Game Between Moral Constraints and Profit Temptation] It is worth noting that many cryptocurrency KOLs publicly stated that they were aware of the YZY issuance plan in advance but chose not to participate for ethical reasons. This "informed restraint" instead confirms the existence of insider information:

• Only 9,413 Wallets achieved over $10 in profit
• Nearly 16,000 Wallets suffered losses exceeding 10 dollars.
• The profit wallet accounts for less than 15%
• The trading volume model of $2.95 billion created by TRUMP Token has been replicated.

[Historical Comparison: The Three Major Tactics of Celebrity Tokens in 2025] The YZY incident has recreated the fixed pattern of celebrity coins this year:

1. Insider information: Wallets completed fund deployment before the contract was made public.
2. Public flaunting: project associates openly showcase profits (e.g., Shelton)
3. Repeat players: The same batch of wallets appears in multiple celebrity token projects.
4. Retail investors are placing orders: small wallets continue to become the exit liquidity for early players.

Although YZY's trading volume of $724 million is far lower than TRUMP's $29.5 billion, the play people for suckers mechanism is completely consistent.

【Investment Warning: Five Signs to Identify the Risks of Celebrity Tokens】 Summarize the warning signals based on this incident:

1. Anonymous development team: YZY has not disclosed developer information.
2. Preload Wallet: On-chain shows a large amount of funds prepared before launch.
3. Related party speculation: Core members excessively promote on social media platforms.
4. Liquidity Design: Low Liquidity Pools Amplify Price Volatility
5. Historical Connection: There is a wallet association with previous problematic projects.

[Conclusion] Kanye West's YZY Token was supposed to be a model of celebrity embracing Web3, but it has become a bloody battleground for insider traders to play people for suckers. From Maikie Shelton's social media bragging to on-chain data revealing the TRUMP-LIBRA-YZY three-way connection, and the loss data provided by Nansen, all evidence points to a carefully orchestrated insider operation. Whether Kanye himself was aware or not, this incident once again proves that in the unregulated celebrity coin space, retail investors are always at the bottom of the food chain. It is advised that investors stay away from all celebrity-endorsed tokens and wait for a more complete regulatory framework to be established, or they may very well become the exit liquidity for insider traders.