V3 Research
What's your opinion about Kanye West's $YZY token?

Key Findings

  • YZY is a celebrity-driven Solana meme coin that surged to approximately a $3 billion market capitalization within hours of its launch before dropping more than 50%, highlighting extreme volatility and low real liquidity 893043.
  • Token ownership is highly concentrated, with roughly 70% reserved for Yeezy Investments LLC and over 90% controlled by insiders, which creates significant manipulation risk for retail investors 4172541.
  • On-chain data reveal aggressive insider trading, single-sided liquidity, and rapid liquidity removals, mirroring patterns of previous rug-pulls and emphasizing the need for risk management 1013283849.

Core Mechanism & Ecosystem

Kanye West (Ye) introduced the YZY Money stack, which includes the YZY token, Ye Pay processor, and YZY Card, designed as a new blockchain-based payment system 138. To prevent bot front-running, an anti-sniping launch involved 25 contract addresses, with only one being official 825. Hyperliquid has listed 3×-leverage perpetual contracts, enhancing speculative access 1542.

Tokenomics & Ownership Risks

Public documents reveal that only 20% of the supply is available to the market, with 10% going to liquidity and 70% to Ye’s company, subject to 3-, 6-, and 12-month vesting periods 25. Coinbase’s Conor Grogan calculates that 94% of tokens were in insider wallets at launch, with only about 7% in decentralized exchange liquidity pools 41. This clustering heightens the risk of a sell-off once vesting periods end or liquidity is withdrawn 3839.

Market Performance & Insider Activity

The price of YZY spiked above $3 but dropped below $1 within a single session 447. Analysis by Lookonchain and Odaily showed wallets that took advantage of the launch, converting $450,000 into $3.4 million through priority fees 132849. Another major investor lost $500,000 in two hours as the price plummeted 47. Liquidity withdrawals exceeding $2.3 million in 30 seconds and single-sided liquidity pool additions by suspected team wallets underscore the fragility of the coin 3839.

Implications & Outlook

The combination of celebrity hype, centralized supply, leveraged derivatives, and opaque governance is similar to previous short-lived meme coins. Unless Ye delivers genuine utility for Ye Pay or the YZY Card, sustained value is uncertain. Analysts recommend limiting position sizes to 1-2% of portfolios and applying rigorous risk controls, as emphasized in numerous analyses of YZY’s leverage risks 57113536.

YZY market-cap headline30
YZY price dips below $147
YZY ecosystem overview34
Disclaimer: Meme-coin markets are speculative and can result in total capital loss. Conduct thorough independent research before trading.