$3B YZY Token Crash Exposes Insider TRUMP–LIBRA Web

Key Points

• YZY Token hit $3B market cap before crashing within hours
• On-chain data shows $50M profit concentrated in a few wallets
• Mikey Shelton, linked to Ye, posted about instant six-figure gains
• Wallets tied to TRUMP and LIBRA suggest an insider trading ring

The YZY Token,  Kanye West’s latest venture into Web3,  launched with sky-high hype and even higher risks. Marketed as Ye’s official meme coin on Solana, it surged to a $3 billion market cap within 40 minutes of launch on August 21, 2025. But behind the scenes, wallet activity tells a very different story.

Nansen, a blockchain analytics firm, revealed startling figures: out of 62,465 wallets that traded on launch day, over $50 million in profits were captured by just the top 500 wallets.

YZY Token Profit and Loss Leaderboard. Source: Nansen – Techtoken

Meanwhile, smaller retail traders lost over $21 million, and only 9,413 wallets made more than $10 in gains. Nearly 16,000 wallets lost over $10.

The stark imbalance shows a launch that massively favored a select few.

One wallet alone made $3 million, while another lost $1.3 million, a classic pump-and-dump pattern.

If you missed our deep dive into the chaotic launch, catch it here: YZY Coin Launch Faces Insider Scandal.

Mikey Shelton and the TRUMP–LIBRA–YZY Wallet Triangle

The mystery deepens with the appearance of Mikey Shelton, a known associate of Kanye West. After YZY’s explosive debut, Shelton posted Instagram Stories boasting:

“We made $160k in the first 10 min. Still haven’t sold just under $300k.”

This raised eyebrows. Did Shelton have insider access to the YZY launch? Some suggest this is direct proof of an orchestrated insider campaign. Though his social media presence is limited, on-chain sleuths took notice.

So the guy who is behind $YZY token is publicly bragging about insider trading and rugging for MILLIONS of dollars on his IG 🤯 pic.twitter.com/iba5ndGsoP

— Gordon (@AltcoinGordon) August 21, 2025

Enter Detective and Bubblemaps,  two blockchain analytics accounts. They found that two wallets sniped both YZY and LIBRA, making a combined $23 million.

These wallets had pre-loaded capital and were deployed within minutes of launch. The key point? They didn’t trade any other tokens, just YZY and LIBRA.

A wallet managed to buy $250K of $YZY at a $206M

It secured about $1M profit, which was then sent to a treasury wallet.

The same wallet also received ~$20M from another lucky sniper who only traded one coin: $LIBRA

The 23M extraction story on this thread🧵 pic.twitter.com/bNZibuzbhU

— dethective (@dethective) August 21, 2025

Another bombshell came from Bubblemaps. The very first YZY buyer was a known trader named Naseem, who had previously earned $100 million from the TRUMP meme coin.

YZY and LIBRA Insider Trading Connection. Source: X/Dethective – Techtoken

His wallet bought $250,000 of YZY at launch and has already realized over $800,000, while still holding $600,000.

These repeat appearances of the same wallets across celebrity coins, TRUMP, LIBRA, YZY– show what appears to be a coordinated insider network, not lucky guesses.

BREAKING: we have found the identity of the FIRST buyer of $YZY

It’s the same trader who made $100M on $TRUMP

Expert sniper or insider? 🧵 pic.twitter.com/e9oJL2t7jK

— Bubblemaps (@bubblemaps) August 21, 2025

Wallet Forensics Uncover Systemic Insider Patterns

Blockchain forensics is now doing what regulators haven’t: exposing deeply connected trading behavior in meme coin launches.

On-chain analytics reveal that the same few wallets consistently appear in the earliest moments of each high-profile celebrity token,  and often disappear once they’ve cashed out.

These wallets don’t interact with the broader DeFi ecosystem. They show no staking, lending, or interaction with other protocols. They are single-purpose wallets, seemingly designed only to execute sniper trades on celebrity coins like TRUMP, LIBRA, and YZY.

They operate like a coordinated team:

• Wallet A funds Wallet B minutes before launch

• Wallet B makes the first buy, creates price momentum

• Wallet C starts unloading in small waves once hype grows

• All funds are later routed to anonymized bridges or mixers

This behavior resembles insider groups in traditional finance,  but here, it’s all visible on-chain. And still, no enforcement or prevention mechanisms exist.

Crypto veterans are now sounding the alarm. Some influencers claimed they knew about the YZY token in advance but chose not to participate due to ethical concerns. One popular trader posted:

“It felt like another LIBRA or TRUMP play. All the same wallets showed up. Hard pass.”

Retail traders, meanwhile, continue falling into the same trap — lured by the hype, unaware they’re often just exit liquidity for orchestrated insiders.

For those new to crypto, it’s a reminder to always question sudden hype — especially when driven by celebrities. It’s a red flag pattern that echoes other crypto scams we’ve recently covered.

What This Means for Retail Investors in Celebrity Coins

The YZY Token case is just the latest in a growing list of celebrity token launches gone wrong. The pattern is becoming predictable:

• Pre-loaded Wallets: Select wallets are funded before contracts are public

• Insider Access: Large buys are made seconds after launch

• Bragging and Hype: Insiders openly brag, as seen with Mikey Shelton

• Retail Exit Liquidity: Latecomers fuel profits for early movers

Even though YZY’s $724 million trading volume was smaller than TRUMP’s $29.5 billion, the script was the same.

The current structure of celebrity meme coin launches allows insiders to dominate while regular investors end up footing the bill. Blockchain transparency has enabled the community to trace these patterns, but that hasn’t stopped these cycles from repeating.

While Ye’s involvement remains uncertain, those around him benefited. With wallet links and early buys lining up across TRUMP, LIBRA, and now YZY, one thing is clear: the same few wallets are consistently at the front of the line.

In the meantime, as bullish sentiment rises across altcoins and protocols like Avalanche push toward more stablecoin integration, retail investors should remain cautious. Unlike controlled environments, the open nature of crypto makes these insider maneuvers both easy and profitable,  until it’s too late.

Even Bitcoin isn’t immune; the 51% attack risk is becoming more real as mining centralizes. The message is clear: decentralization doesn’t always mean fairness.