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HAWK Tuah girl Haliey Welch has broken her silence about her cryptocurrency scandal after vanishing from the public eye for months.
Welch, 22, broke down in tears and promised she didn’t mean to hurt her fans with the botched digital currency scheme in a leaked clip of a new episode of her podcast.
The media personality, who rose to fame after a viral street interview moment last summer, opened up about the fall of her crypto coin called $HAWK token.
The coin reached a market capitalization of nearly $500 million before quickly dropping to $25 million, a loss of a staggering 95% of its value.
The sudden drop left the coin’s investors high and dry, sparking incessant backlash against Welch and her team.
A lawsuit against Welch and her team accuses them of a rug-pulling scam and insider trading.
Welch denied all allegations in a statement in December before disappearing from the public eye and going dark with her podcast, Talk Tuah.
Now, a leaked clip of a new episode of Welch’s podcast shows her addressing the claims against her in a conversation with FaZe Clan’s founder Banks.
Welch choked back tears as she vowed she was going to “make everything right.”
She explained the coin was introduced to her as a “long-term coin” that would “‘change the way everybody thinks about crypto.”
“I feel really bad for all the people that got affected by it,” Welch said.
“It just didn’t go the way I planned.”
She then revealed she planned to donate the money from her new podcast episode to animals affected by the recent wildfires.
“All the money out of this episode is getting donated to all the animals that have been affected by the fires out here,” she said.
Welch also said she had her lawyer, entertainment attorney Christian Barker, behind the scenes of the podcast recording.
She then broke down the entire story of her involvement in the cryptocurrency scheme.
It was brought to me in a positive way, like it was going to be something good and long-term. But it didn’t go that route at all so it was like a smack in the face.”
Haliey Welch
She said the idea for her cryptocurrency coin came to her from a “friend of a friend.”
“That was my biggest mistake. I probably should’ve looked into him,” she said.
She said everything was fine until the day of the launch.
Welch noticed the crypto developer looked “nervous,” which made her suspicious as he paced.
More red flags were raised when Banks, whose real name is Richard Bengston, came on Welch’s livestream and asked the developer questions that stumped him.
“Okay, something’s wrong, he can’t answer a simple question,” Welch recalled thinking.
GOOD INTENTIONS
She said she set out to create the coin to donate to her animal charity, Paws Across America.
“It was supposed to be done the right way. It was going to be good,” Welch said, adding half of the profits were supposed to go to Paws Across America.
“That’s really why I agreed to do it. Just for the simple fact, putting money into that,” she said.
“It was brought to me in a positive way, like it was going to be something good and long-term.
“But it didn’t go that route at all so it was like a smack in the face.”
‘NOTHING TO HIDE’
Welch and her lawyer then took questions from cryptocurrency experts who were invited to the podcast.
Her podcast guests advised her to fix it and to continue to be transparent.
“We don’t have nothing to hide,” Welch said.
She also revealed her boyfriend, whose nickname is Pookie, lost money in the scheme after he put $300 into it.
In her statement in December, Welch said she was “committed” to help those who were affected by the coin’s failed launch.
“I take this situation extremely seriously and want to address my fans, the investors who have been affected, and the broader community,” she said at the time.
“I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter.”
