Andrew Tate Shorts Kanye West’s YZY, Nears $700K Loss on Hyperliquid
Controversial influencer and former kickboxer Andrew Tate has taken a big hit after opening leveraged short positions on Kanye West’s newly launched YZY token. Wallet activity tied to Tate shows a 3x leveraged short entered near $0.85 that was already in the red by roughly $16,000 on that single trade.
Blockchain analytics cited on social media report that Tate’s Hyperliquid account has made dozens of trades with limited success. Out of about 80 trades, only 29 were profitable — a win rate near 36% — leaving cumulative losses approaching $700,000 on that account.
The YZY token itself launched on Solana and experienced extreme early volatility. Reports indicate the token surged as much as 1,400% within the first hour, with the 13 biggest wallets realizing roughly $24.5 million in gains as they sold, before the price later slid by more than 70%.
Tate is no stranger to controversy in the crypto space. More than a year earlier he faced insider-trading allegations around his own memecoin, Daddy Tate (DADDY), after insiders reportedly acquired a large share of the supply prior to promotion. A broader pattern emerged in mid-2024 when Tate promoted numerous Solana memecoins.
Many tokens linked to his endorsements collapsed in value shortly after promotion; analytics platforms warned that several of those launches featured sizable insider allocations and that many of the tokens lost roughly 99% of their value. Other celebrities have also been involved in the Solana memecoin wave, from musicians to athletes.
The recent episode underscores the risks of trading hype-driven tokens and taking investment cues from celebrity endorsements. Rapid token launches, concentrated holdings by a few wallets, and high leverage can lead to large, fast losses for traders who enter volatile markets without sufficient risk controls.
Source: Cointelegraph.
