Kanye West continued his controversy-filled era with his YZY token launch on Solana this week, where trading activity drove its market capitalization near $3 billion before collapsing within hours.
The token, listed under multiple pool tickers on Raydium, initially saw rapid inflows that pushed its fully diluted valuation into multibillion territory before prices retreated more than 90%, leaving its capitalization closer to $137 million.
The effect left some participants facing an estimated 10% round-trip cost to enter and exit positions. Despite these costs, volume surged in the first hours of trading, producing more than $9 million in collected fees for the pool’s operators, according to the same account.
That structure and the concentration of insider holdings observed on-chain deepened criticism that retail participants were structurally disadvantaged. The sharp decline only amplified that narrative as many wallets were left with steep losses within hours of trading.
The YZY episode concentrated multiple themes in one launch: rapid capitalization driven by celebrity branding, heavy insider positioning, costly fee mechanics, and the quick reversal that left many late entrants with losses.
For Solana, the event once again highlighted that memecoins remain a key driver of volume, even as questions over transparency and fairness continue to mount.
