Controversial rapper Kanye West created a memecoin according to an official announcement on his X account.
The singer, who has been embroiled in the past in scandal for his admiration of Adolf Hitler and accusations of sex trafficking, stalking, assault and rape, has named his Solana-based coin YZY.
“YEEZY MONEY IS HERE.” West wrote on his verified X account. He continued, writing “A NEW ECONOMY, BUILT ON CHAIN.” He then posted a video confirming the coin’s debut shortly after on the same account.
Immediate spike
News of West’s coin triggered a surge in buying that sent its market capitalization to more than $3 billion less than one hour after the announcement.
Following usual patterns of celebrity memecoin debuts, its market capitalization quickly dropped after the frenzy, dipping to $1 billion according to data from Birdeye, a crypto-trading data aggregator.
As of 07:25 UTC, YZY MONEY traded just below $1.20 per CoinMarketCap. Media have previously reported that West has expressed an interest in cryptocurrencies and once sued to shut down a memecoin that was named after his personal brand.
For the people?
“YZY money is a concept to put you in control, free from centralized authority.” As described by West’s dedicated website for the new token.
The site pitches YZY as more than just a memecoin, highlighting plans for Ye Pay, a payment processor meant to cut down merchant fees, and the YZY Card, described as a global spending option for both YZY and USDC.
Earlier speculation
In February of this year, there was speculation on social media and prediction markets that West had planned to launch his own cryptocurrency called YZY.
A coin called YZY1USD has traded since February 2025, though Sandmark has not independently verified who introduced that coin and is not aware of any connection between YZY1USD and West.
