The relatively newly famous internet star Haliey Welch, host of the interview podcast “Talk Tuah” but more commonly known as the “Hawk Tuah” girl, has recently gained more traction online due to allegations of scamming her listeners through the promotion of a particular cryptocurrency.
For the unfamiliar, cryptocurrency (or “crypto” for short) is a digital currency that can be traded and invested in, much like stocks. A majority of these currencies have no actual value other than what people are willing to pay for them as they are decentralized, unlike other forms of currencies that are regulated by a country’s government. In the past few years, some forms have been popular enough to be treated as actual money such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Crypto traders invest a lot of money into these online currencies and as they do, their value increases, and the public’s perception of the currency’s worth inflates. Because of the actual monetary value increasing, people choose to invest as they see it on a rise so that the price will go up and they can typically make some money. However, there is always the risk of the price dropping due to disinterest in the currency and thus losing the money invested.
“Crypto was made to be a more secure way of tracing money,” Columbia Heights High School math teacher Mr. Dan Ronchak said. “But it feels like it has gotten too trendy and [led to] multiple copycats. What was once meant to be something more secure feels more like a risk.”
Welch and her promotional team instilled and drove a lot of hype for their signature cryptocurrency last fall, causing many investors to become very interested in the cryptocurrency’s value and overall worth. However, when Welch and her team officially launched their Hawk Tuah Coin ($HAWK) in December, very little was actually being sold. This was mainly because their team was holding 96% of the cryptocurrency’s stock as well as charging high fees at the start of the launch to stop snipers (people who aim to get the product faster than others, thus falsely inflating the price).
The initial valuation somehow remained high despite this, though. The main cause of the massive immediate inflation of the coin was pre-sales to around 285 investors, and on launch, the coins were unlocked, leading these investors to sell the coins to Welch’s fans and followers, having these pre-sale investors making $3.3 million in total. Because of these pre-sales, the price was driven up far too quickly, encouraging new fans to buy the coin on its rise but with little room for growth, thus almost certainly leading to a crash. This strategy, also known as a “rug pull,” was exactly what Welch and her team wanted as it benefits everyone in their circle but no one among the general public.
“I got caught up in the Doge craze about four years ago.” Columbia Heights resident Dan Young said. “I missed cashing out when it hit its all-time high. I would have been able to have made a $5000+ profit. I should have cashed out at the top, but I didn’t understand the crypto market back then.”
During the initial talk and reveal of $HAWK, Welch and her team said that they wanted “normies” to invest in the coin, meaning that they wanted people who hadn’t invested in cryptocurrency before to invest in the Hawk Tuah Coin. This, combined with the aforementioned “rug pull,” led financial experts to believe that Welch and her team wanted to exploit her fans and take their money.
Welch has since come forward saying she is cooperating with lawyers representing those affected by the crash but has not taken public ownership for the allegedly deceptive and secretive scandal. No trial has been set for the case, but with Talk Tuah listenership much lower in 2025 than the millions gained in 2024, Welch’s fame and wealth seem to already be at stake.
