Fans of unofficial Kanye West–themed meme coins are reeling after the rapper, now known simply as Ye, launched his official token on Solana this week. The debut of the verified YZY coin left holders of Yeezy Coin (also called 4NBT) and Swasticoin scrambling, as both tokens collapsed in value almost immediately.
For months, communities built around the two coins had convinced themselves that Ye was secretly behind the projects, interpreting his cryptic social media activity as hidden clues. Some even described the tokens as part of a performance art experiment or alternate reality game. When rumours of an imminent launch spread earlier in the week, both coins surged—only to tank after Ye publicly shared the contract address for YZY and released a video confirming it as the “official” token. According to DEX Screener, Yeezy Coin has fallen more than 88% from its brief rally, while Swasticoin is down 78%.
The shockwaves through these groups have been intense. “Yo, WTF is going on? Are we still alive?” one Telegram user wrote as the crash unfolded. Others accused Ye of misleading them or insisted it must still be part of a larger ruse. Some believers clung to the idea that Ye’s mention of 25 trial tokens, with only one chosen as the real coin, left room for 4NBT or Swasticoin to make a comeback.
Decrypt previously reported that the meme coin communities tied to these tokens had also become spaces where antisemitic tropes, Holocaust denial, and Nazi imagery were openly shared. Swasticoin in particular attempted to sanitise and normalise the Nazi swastika, with some participants claiming their efforts were a critique of “those who control the media.” Even this week, after Ye’s official token launch, messages laced with hateful rhetoric continued to appear in the chats.
Despite the collapse, pockets of diehards still insist the new YZY coin might be part of an elaborate misdirection. One holder argued the promotional video could be a deepfake, while another urged fellow investors to “buy more 4NBT.” But market numbers tell a different story: 4NBT’s market cap has crashed 94% from $33 million to under $2 million, while Swasticoin has cratered from $180 million to just over $1 million.
Meanwhile, Ye’s official coin hit a peak valuation of more than $3 billion after its announcement, cementing it as the only legitimate project tied to the rapper. Still, a small but vocal group of disillusioned investors can’t let go. In a nine-hour X Spaces call titled “Resurrection,” dozens of participants debated whether they’d been scammed—or whether the “real reveal” was still to come.
