Investigating Kanye West's YZY Mess: Insider Boasts, TRUMP–LIBRA Connections, and More

The launch of Kanye West's (Ye) new meme token YZY on Solana was advertised as another cultural moment from one of the most influential figures in music. Instead, it became a typical example of how celebrity tokens can cause controversy.

On-chain data reveals a strange connection between YZY insiders and initial LIBRA and TRUMP meme coin traders. Investigations also showed a character named 'Mikey Shelton' was behind the internal pump and dump plan.

Some traders lost millions of USD with Kanye's YZY

The YZY Token was launched on 21/08/2025. Within 40 minutes, it rose to a market capitalization of 3 billion USD, before dropping to nearly one-third of that value.

Nansen's analysis showed 62,465 wallets traded YZY on the launch day, creating extreme results:

• Profit: +50.4 million USD realized across 500 top wallets.
• Loss: −21.4 million USD realized.
• Largest profit: 3 million USD.
• Largest loss: 1.3 million USD.
• Liquidity Pool: earned 10 million USD from fees.

In summary, a few wallets earned millions while thousands of small investors suffered losses.

The Mysterious Role of Mikey Shelton

One of the notable developments after the launch came from Mikey Shelton, a name that appeared in Ye's circle earlier this year.

In February, Ye shared a conversation with Shelton where he told him: "You are the brand. Whatever it is will be successful. Some things are better than others. What matters is who you trust."

After YZY's launch, Shelton's Instagram Stories spread widely. In one post, on a black background, he wrote "Best day." Accompanied by a chat message:

"We made 160,000 USD in the first 10 minutes. Still not selling below 300 USD."

The clear implication: Shelton and his team had internal access, gaining six-figure profits in just a few minutes after the token's launch.

Whether this is simple boasting or a direct admission, this image further fueled claims of insider trading around YZY.

Currently, Mikey Shelton's online presence is also mysterious. His last Twitter post was in 08/2023. He seems active on Instagram but keeps his profile private. Notably, Shelton mentions Baylor and Stanford Universities in his Insta bio. Could a former Stanford student be behind this pump and dump plan?

On-chain Evidence of Insider Activity

Some on-chain analysts confirmed these suspicions with wallet traces. Dethective identified two "sniper" wallets that withdrew a total of 23 million USD from YZY and another coin, LIBRA.

These wallets were prepared before the launch and pushed large quantities through liquidity pools. On-chain data shows they only sniped YZY and LIBRA — never other tokens — indicating insider knowledge rather than luck.

Meanwhile, Bubblemaps reported that the first YZY buyer was Naseem. This is the same trader who earned over 100 million USD from the TRUMP meme coin earlier this year.

The analysis linked wallets between TRUMP, LIBRA, and YZY, showing consistent early access. The first YZY purchase was a 250,000 USD transaction on 21/08, and that wallet realized 800,000 USD in profits while holding 600,000 USD.Together, these findings raise serious questions: how do the same wallets consistently lead in celebrity meme coin launches? And is this sniping skill — or privileged access?

Many prominent crypto figures even claimed they knew about Kanye West's token launch early. However, some did not participate for ethical and moral reasons.

This story is reinforced by Nansen's data: only 9,413 wallets recorded profits over 10 USD, while nearly 16,000 wallets recorded losses over 10 USD.

What This Means for YZY and Future Celebrity Coins

The YZY event reveals recurring patterns in 2025 celebrity token markets:

• Insiders Prepared in Advance: Wallets seemingly ready before contract publication, participating in large quantities.
• Bragging Rights: Those close to the project — like Mikey Shelton — increase suspicions by publicly celebrating large profits.
• Repeat Players: Same wallets appearing in TRUMP, LIBRA, and now YZY, raising questions about organized insider groups.
• Small Investor Losses: Tens of thousands of small wallets consistently losing, becoming liquidity exit for early buyers.

Compared to TRUMP's opening volume of 29.5 billion USD, YZY's 724 million USD might look smaller. But the dynamics remain the same: insiders win, latecomers lose, and transparency is lacking.

Conclusion

YZY was supposed to mark Ye's entry into Web3. Instead, its first day emphasized how celebrity tokens have become playgrounds for insiders.

Mikey Shelton's Instagram post, on-chain wallet analysis, Bubblemaps' TRUMP-YZY connections, and Nansen's hard data all point in the same direction: the launch strongly favored well-positioned players.

It is still unclear whether Ye orchestrated this himself or was exploited by those around him. What is clear is that YZY has added another cautionary tale to the increasingly long list of celebrity crypto experiments, and small investors once again have to pay the price.