While millions of followers browsed their social media feeds on August 26, 2025, Kanye West’s official Instagram account with nearly 20 million followers fell victim to a sophisticated hack, resulting in the unauthorized promotion of a fraudulent cryptocurrency token. The hackers manipulated the account to follow a counterfeit profile named “yzytoken,” which promoted a fake token on the Solana blockchain through a scam platform called Pump.fun, creating confusion among fans and investors alike.
The timing proved particularly damaging as it occurred just days after Ye had officially launched his legitimate YZY Money project on August 20. Following the hack, the authentic YZY coin plummeted approximately 81% in value, while the fraudulent token briefly spiked to a $7 million market cap before collapsing to roughly $160,000. Early investors in the legitimate YZY coin, which had reached a peak market cap of $3 billion, watched nervously as their investments fluctuated wildly. The resulting market chaos highlighted the extreme volatility of meme coins driven primarily by social media influence rather than fundamental value.
Market manipulation at its finest — YZY’s 81% crash against a $7M scam token shows crypto’s fragile celebrity ecosystem.
Kanye wasn’t the only celebrity targeted in this wave of crypto scams. Similar hacks affected the Instagram accounts of Future, Adele, Tyla, and even Michael Jackson’s legacy account, all promoting various fake tokens including one called FREEBANDZ that falsely claimed association with Future’s brand. The hackers employed celebrity images to create an illusion of endorsement, causing significant market disruption before platform administrators removed the posts. On-chain analysis revealed that scammers profited approximately $45,600 by dumping FREEBANDZ tokens shortly after the price surge.
Responding swiftly to the incident, West clarified through his X (formerly Twitter) account that only @YZY_MNY represented his official crypto project, urging followers to remain vigilant against impostor accounts. He reaffirmed that YZY Money embodied his philosophy of empowering individuals through decentralization, distinguishing it from the fraudulent alternatives flooding the market. The incident illustrated how musicians today must vigilantly protect their revenue streams across multiple platforms as digital assets become increasingly important income sources. The situation underscores why artists need to establish brand story consistency across all promotional channels to prevent imposters from successfully mimicking their identity.
The incident highlighted critical security vulnerabilities in high-profile social media accounts and demonstrated the volatile nature of celebrity-backed cryptocurrencies. Despite having attracted over 56,000 wallet interactions within 24 hours of its launch, YZY Money’s momentum faced significant challenges from the ensuing market chaos, underscoring the delicate relationship between celebrity influence and cryptocurrency valuations.
