Is Hawk Tuah Girl’s crypto venture a pump and dump?

Hailey Welch, known as the Hawk Tuah Girl, became famous over the summer for her viral “Hawk Tuah” TikTok video.  

Last week, she launched her cryptocurrency, $HAWK, which soared to a $490 million market cap shortly after its debut.  

However, within just 20 minutes, the coin’s value plunged by 95%, leaving its market cap at just $41 million.  

Was it a scam? And who is to blame for those who lost out when buying into the currency?

On Thursday morning’s episode of The Briefing, we talked to Daniel Gozman, Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, to explain the complex world of crypto.  

Many have accused Welch and her team of operating a “pump and dump” scheme, where hype is generated to inflate the value of a currency before insiders sell at a profit.

Gozman explained that the “pump and dump” scheme was popular in the US stock exchange during the 1980s before being outlawed.  

“What effectively it means is that it’s running up the value, hyping the value of the coin or the investment…so hyping, hyping and hyping until it reaches a certain point of value,” he said.  

“Everybody who is in the know, or the people that have perhaps created the currency and understand that it’s probably reached its peak, then pulls out very quickly, and that causes the price to plummet,” he added.  

The controversy has raised questions about the legalities of such ventures and the responsibilities of influencers promoting financial products.  

“The question I have is I wonder very much how much her fans invested in it …that they could lose everything and that it’s very much a gamble.”

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