Hawk Tuah star Haliey Welch determined to clear her name in crypto scandal and revive her career

Embattled Hawk Tuah star Haliey Welch is looking forward to clearing her name and resuming her career amid the fallout from her cryptocurrency scandal and lawsuit.

The group behind the social media star’s memecoin – which dramatically crashed just hours after its launch – is being sued after failing to register the cryptocurrency, according to court records. 

Although Welch herself isn’t named in the lawsuit, the backlash she received following the crypto crash caused her to exit the public eye for more than two weeks.

‘Haliey understands how her unexpected start in the industry comes across, but since achieving virality, she’s proven she has the star power to lead a successful career,’ a source told DailyMail.com

‘She plans to keep pushing forward after clearing up the narrative around her involvement in this project,’ they continued.

The influencer is working alongside Burwick Law, which specializes in crypto litigation, ‘to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter’. 

The source also insists that Welch ‘did not spearhead or create’ the crypto project, and was nothing more than a paid spokesperson who received a sponsorship fee to lend her persona to the team that created and launched the $HAWK memecoin. 

‘Outside of the initial fixed fee received before the launch, there was no guarantee she would make any additional money from the memecoin thereafter,’ the source said. 

‘Due to her limited role, Haliey was completely siloed from this project and had zero control over it. This was due to receiving incorrect advice from the company responsible for launching the coin, who wanted to take advantage of her viral success,’ they added.

When contacted for comment by DailyMail.com, Welch said she was ‘committed’ to resolving the issue.

‘I take this situation extremely seriously and want to address my fans, the investors who have been affected, and the broader community,’ she said.

‘I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter.’ 

The lawsuit, filed by investors, accuses overHere Ltd., its founder Clinton So, and social media influencer Alex Larson Schultz, as well as the Tuah The Moon Foundation, of unlawfully promoting and selling cryptocurrency that was allegedly never properly registered. 

Memecoins, which rely on cultural references and online fandoms to gain traction, are accessible and have a low barrier to create, investors said, adding that Welch’s ‘frenzied’ marketing of the token added to its raised appeal.

The coin, referred to as a ‘$HAWK token,’ quickly rose to a $490 million market cap, before ultimately tanking more than 90 percent, to below $100 million, within hours of its December 4 launch. 

Now the plaintiff’s lawyers allege that a pre-sale for the coin had raised approximately $2.8 million, at a valuation of $16.69 million, ahead of the launch date, according to the lawsuit.

Investors are now seeking more than $150,000 in damages.

The Thursday complaint also alleges that the day after the failed launch, So – who initially launched the coin – made the Tuah Foundation an offshore entity and sold 17 percent of the tokens through the organization to a subset of people to skirt securities laws.

However, defendants continued marketing the remaining 83 percent of the tokens, making ‘no serious attempt’ to restrict purchasers outside of the US.

‘The project clearly was intended to take advantage of the American market,’ the complaint said.

By So ‘linking the success of the social media influencer like Welch, he literally said that the Token holders would essentially be shareholders,’ the investors said.

‘Despite these clear indications of its status as a security, the $HAWK Token was not registered by defendants,’ they added.

‘We have been extremely transparent about the limited scope and extent of our involvement in the Hawk Tuah token project. We are confident that we have done nothing wrong,’ a spokesperson for overHere said in an email. 

‘As for any litigation, we will let the process play out in court.’

Welch has since faced harsh backlash online as critics accuse the 22-year-old and her team of participating in the ‘money-grab’ scheme, which she later denied on X. 

This hasn’t stopped furious fans and investors alike from blasting Welch on social media.

‘You really messed up with that pump and dump memecoin,’ one wrote.

‘i’m sorry, but anyone who took financial cues from the HAWK TUAH GIRL deserves the L they took,’ another wrote.

‘If you bought hawk tuah coin you shouldn’t be allowed to vote,’ a third commented.

New York-based law firm Burwick Law, who specialize in cases around NFTs and cryptocurrency, put out a call for potential clients regarded to the $HAWK coin scandal earlier this month.

‘If you lost money on $HAWK, contact our firm to learn about your legal rights,’ they posted on X.

DailyMail.com contacted Welch’s management for comment at the time.

Speaking to Fortune before the memecoin launch, Welch insisted that the venture was ‘not just a cash grab.’

She also said that crypto was ‘a good way to interact with my fans’ and that she’d become interested in it through rapper Lil Pump.

Welch first showed interest in crypto back in September, when she bizarrely appeared as a keynote speaker at the Forbes Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul, South Korea.

The Tennessee-born blonde skyrocketed to fame in June after a clip of her giving a humorous sex tip during a street interview in Nashville went viral.

She has since amassed millions of followers on social media and launched a successful merchandise line.

Her Talk Tuah podcast has also become one of the most popular in the country, and at one point was ranked third in the US behind Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan.

Guests on the podcast have so far included comedians like Hannah Berner and Whitney Cummings, pop star JoJo Siwa, and entrepreneur Mark Cuban.