Hawk Tuah Girl Says SEC Dropping Probe Into Meme Coin: TMZ

Haliey Welch, better known online as the girl behind “Hawk Tuah,” isn’t worried about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s probe into her meme coin anymore after the agency dropped the investigation, she said Friday.

“For the past few months, I’ve been cooperating with all the authorities and attorneys, and finally, that work is complete,” she told TMZ.

Welch launched a meme coin on Solana in December that quickly imploded, sparking backlash and forcing her to temporarily take her account offline. The Tennessee native’s meme coin HAWK rocketed to a market cap of $490 million before collapsing 93% in value within minutes.

While the public knew Welch was cooperating with a civil lawsuit against HAWK’s creators, it was not previously known that Welch faced an investigation from Wall Street’s top cop.

Welch’s lawyer told TMZ that the SEC closed its probe “without making any findings against, or seeking any monetary sanctions,” a decision allowing her to do as she pleases concerning cryptocurrencies and securities.

HAWK’s collapse raised concerns over the accountability that meme coin promoters, and those that launch them, face. Last month, the SEC advised that it doesn’t generally view meme coins as securities, and they don’t fall under its regulatory remit.

The SEC told Decrypt that the agency does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.

A spokesperson for Welch did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.

Meme coins are cryptocurrencies that typically trade on marketing and hype. Welch was among several names that dropped one last year, including Caitlyn Jenner, Jason Derulo, and Cardi B.

The civil lawsuit against HAWK’s creators does not name Welch. Instead, it’s taking action against the crypto launchpad overHERE, its founder Clinton So, an influencer named Alex Larson Schultz who goes by “Doc Hollywood,” and the so-called Tuah the Moon Foundation.

In a now-deleted interview, Welch told Richard “FaZe Banks” Bengtson that she regrets how her crypto endeavors played out. During the chat, she indicated that her knowledge of crypto was pretty surface-level, and she didn’t really know what she was getting into.

The price of HAWK jumped on Friday, recently rising 25% on the decentralized exchange, or DEX, Meteora, according to the crypto data provider GeckoTerminal. With a market cap of $4 million, the meme coin has generated $333,000 worth of trading volume over the past day.

Still, TMZ reported that Welch never plans on promoting her failed cryptocurrency again. These days, she’s slated to be profiled in an upcoming documentary.

Edited by James Rubin