Hailey Welch cleared for HAWK token rug pull

Hailey Welch said she was cleared by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and federal authorities for the crash of the HAWK token. The instant fame of HAWK ended quickly in a rapid crash, costing buyers as much as $50M.

Hailey Welch claimed she was cleared by the US Securities and Exchange Commission as well as federal authorities. The creator of the HAWK token previously stated the SEC was done with its investigation, and federal authorities cleared her of responsibility for the HAWK token crash. 

Welch stated she lacked the knowledge on crypto, and regretted misleading her fans with a token that she did not fully understand and was misled. She explained her engagement with authorities in a recent Talk Tuah podcast. 

https://t.co/ONwwqD0oN5 pic.twitter.com/5JNaz9JZ82

— Talk Tuah with Haliey Welch (@talktuahpod) May 20, 2025

At the time of the crash, up to 97% of the token supply was held by snipers, and a group of insider wallets ended up crashing the price with rapid selling. HAWK was sniped early before it was available to the public, and sold to unaware retail investors. After that, the token did not have liquidity providers or market makers, and simply extracted SOL, leaving buyers to absorb the losses.

The lawsuit against Welch started in December 2024, and crypto-investigating lawyer office Burwick Law is still seeking out all related parties. The legal team has tried class action lawsuits against meme token creators, aiming to compensate buyers. There is no official document proving that Welch is innocent. However, authorities did not continue the investigation beyond verifying the rug pull. 

Despite the losses, Welch reportedly received only $125K in advanced payment, with up to 50% of the token’s proceeds. At one point, Welch held over 50% of the token supply in a single wallet. 

Currently, the biggest wallet holds around 16.8% of the supply, with the rest split among smaller holdings. The token is relatively inactive, with small-scale trades to extract any remaining SOL in the liquidity pool.

HAWK never recovered its meme reputation

Within minutes, HAWK was sold off, resulting in losses of more than 95%. She went silent and stopped using social media after the selling, which took place during a livestream with Welch. The most recent podcast restated earlier indications that Welch would not be subject to fines or penalties. 

After the crash, HAWK traded in a single trading pair, with only $95K in liquidity. Previously, HAWK managed to reach $500M in market capitalization within minutes, rivaling older and more established memes. HAWK launched during peak season for celebrity tokens. 

The token did not revive after the news, still trading at $0.00015. Despite the low price, whales still realized gains, with one whale extracting 11.5 SOL. HAWK can still manage a small rally from its lows, but quickly falls on renewed selling from remaining holders.

According to Solscan, the token still has 7,609 holders and continues to see small-scale trading through Jupiter or directly on Raydium. The volumes are extremely low, with trades in the hundreds of dollars.

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