Hawk Tuah Girl Haliey Welch Breaks Silence on Failed $HAWK Cryptocurrency Launch

Haliey Welch, best known as the viral “Hawk Tuah Girl,” has broken her silence about the failed launch of her namesake cryptocurrency, $HAWK

Haley Welch, best known as the “Hawk Tuah Girl” has broken her silence about the failed launch of her namesake cryptocurrency, $HAWK.

The Solana-based meme coin briefly soared to a $500 million market cap after launching in December 2024 but quickly became worthless, leading to investigations by the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Welch, who maintains she had no prior knowledge of crypto and was misled into promoting the coin, recently opened up about the experience during an episode of her Talking Tuah podcast.

“I couldn't tell you how crypto worked the day that coin launched, like, at all. I got talked into it and trusted the wrong people. I wish I could have seen it coming, but I really had no clue,” she said.

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At the time, her legal team advised her to stop broadcasting and cooperate with authorities.

“They interrogated me, they went through my phone—like, they cleared me. And then they put me in a Zoom meeting with the SEC, which was terrifying. But they cleared me of everything. I was never personally named in the class action lawsuit, which is good,” she shared.

Welch clarified that she earned only a marketing fee and did not personally benefit financially from the coin's rise and fall.

“All the money I got went to PR, lawyers—everything. I came out with nothing. And I'm not complaining; I'm just saying. And then, of course, fans lost money, which makes me feel really bad because they were trusting me,” she added candidly.

Following the coin's crash, Welch recounted receiving threats and even having FBI agents show up at her grandmother's house. Despite the trauma, she said she has been fully cleared and is ready to move forward.

“It was definitely scary, but legally I wasn't in any trouble. It was just a big mess.”