A new cryptocurrency linked to music icon Kanye West drew heavy attention from traders on Wednesday night after its launch on Solana. Bubblemaps data showed that the very first purchase came from a well-known trader with the name “Naseem.” Blockchain data shows that the trader spent $250k worth of USDC to grab $1.2 million worth of YZY. Solscan data shows YZY token’s first buy. According to Bubblemaps, this is the same trader who once turned a million dollars investment in Donald Trump’s TRUMP token into $100 million in profit. The firm described him as a crypto trader who specializes in sniping. The trader managed to snipe the coin despite the fact that the YZY project claimed to have protections in place to prevent such moves. The YZY website explained that the token launch was designed with an “anti-sniping system.” It said 25 different contract addresses had been created, and one was randomly chosen as the official YZY token to make it harder for automated traders to grab early buys. Blockchain data showed that as many as 50 look-alike wallets were also set up by the team, some of which saw minor attempts from traders trying to guess the real one. Despite these efforts, experienced buyers still managed to work around the defenses. In one case, a user who appeared to have inside information mistakenly purchased the wrong contract, losing $710,000 in the process. They later recovered by buying the correct token. Another trader spent $24,000 in fees to push through a priority transaction and walked away with $3.4 million in profit. On-chain Lens, another blockchain tracking service, said an early investor briefly showed a $6 million gain at the token’s peak. Ye’s stance on memecoins shifted dramatically The launch was a surprise to some fans, since Ye had previously spoken against celebrity-backed coins. Back in February, he criticized such projects for preying on followers. But on Wednesday, he promoted the token with a video on X. By Thursday, he shared the official contract address and linked “Yeezy Money,” website describing it as “a new economy, built on chain.” The website stated that YZY would function as a currency inside a broader financial platform called YZY Money. Later, West himself appeared in a video confirming that the YZY token just dropped. Big traders have a lot of confidence in YZY YZY’s market value soared to $3 billion before tumbling back down to about $1 billion within 40 minutes of launching. Despite the volatility, several prominent figures in the crypto community jumped in. James Wynn , a prominent leverage trader said that he believed the coin’s liquidity and trading volume would attract large investors. He called his own entry into YZY a short term move, hoping to double or even quadruple his investment. He compared it to Trump’s token, which surged from $4 billion to $15 billion in just over a day. “Aped $YZY on a 60% pullback,” Wynn posted, noting the rapid gains he expected. Co-founder of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes also appeared to confirm that he had bought into the coin, sharing a post on X. Pls don’t rug me @kanyewest !!! $YZY for the win … cause bull market. Yachtzee pic.twitter.com/16ZruT8WqA — Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) August 21, 2025 YZY’s debut adds to a growing list of celebrity-related memecoins that have surfaced this year. Earlier, Argentinian President Javier Milei stirred controversy when he backed the LIBRA coin, another high-profile example of political and celebrity figures tying their names to volatile crypto assets. KEY Difference Wire helps crypto brands break through and dominate headlines fast
