Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps released a report on Aug. 25 alleging that Hayden Davis coordinated a sniping operation on Kanye West’s YZY token that generated $12 million in profits through 14 connected wallets.

The investigation began with a timing analysis showing Davis, also known as Kelsier, received access to $57 million in previously frozen funds, with YZY launching the following day.

Davis has faced previous controversies related to the LIBRA token collapse, where he denied fraud and insider trading accusations.

A US judge unfroze $57.6 million in USDC stablecoins tied to the LIBRA token scandal on Aug. 20, giving Davis and former Meteora DEX CEO Ben Chow access to funds that were frozen in May as part of a class-action lawsuit.

Bubblemaps tracked several addresses funded from centralized exchanges the day before YZY’s launch, discovering a cluster prepared to snipe the token through funding transactions, Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol transfers, and shared deposits linking back to Davis.

The connected wallets purchased YZY tokens as early as 1:54 A.M. UTC, just one minute after the announcement. The firm noted this pattern reflects Davis’s previous involvement in sniping high-profile tokens, including MELANIA and LIBRA.

Bubblemaps said it could not confirm whether Davis had insider information or direct connections to the YZY team, but documented the coordinated purchasing pattern and profit extraction.

The investigation continues as blockchain forensics firms examine celebrity token launches for potential manipulation.

Controversial launch followed by price colapse

YZY’s controversial launch saw trading activity drive its market capitalization near $3 billion before collapsing within hours.

The token initially attracted rapid inflows, pushing its fully diluted valuation into multibillion-dollar territory before prices retreated more than 90%, leaving its capitalization closer to $137 million.

Independent analysis from Conor Grogan estimated that 94% of the initial supply was controlled by insiders, including a single multisig wallet that held 87% of tokens before dispersing.

The YZY pool featured a 1% base fee with dynamic adjustments reaching 2.68%, combined with wider bin steps introducing additional 4-5% slippage, creating estimated 10% round-trip costs for traders.

YZY is down 82% from its all-time high of $3.1633 and was trading at $0.5670 as of press time.

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One of the co-founders of the controversial memecoin LIBRA says the project itself “sniped” the token right after it rolled out.

In crypto trading, sniping refers to the practice of using trading bots or scripts to buy a newly launched coin ahead of big transactions or the entry of retail traders.

Snipers get their edge by buying early in anticipation of a massive spike in trading volume with the arrival of other investors.

In a new interview on the voidzilla YouTube channel, LIBRA co-creator Hayden Davis says he does not deny that wallets linked to the project sniped the memecoin on launch day.

According to Davis, LIBRA had a separate treasury dedicated to gobbling up the token and front-running other investors.

“That money that we consider ‘sniping’ is the project’s money.” 

Davis says teams behind memecoin launches often practice sniping “to deter” others from getting in early.

“From the standpoint of sniping, most of the time when we’re sniping, we’re attempting to avoid other snipers getting in.”

He explains that memecoin projects need to snipe their own coins to increase the odds of survival by inflating the market cap to a level high enough that the market can absorb large sell orders from deep-pocketed investors.

LIBRA, a crypto project initially backed by Argentinan President Javier Milei, surged to a market cap of over $4 billion on launch day before losing more than 95% of its value on the same day. Milei has since backtracked his support for the crypto asset. The people behind the team, including Davis, are in hot water amid rug-pull and insider trading accusations.

But Davis denies any wrongdoing and says LIBRA is a “plan gone miserably wrong.” He also says that the team is sitting on $100 million worth of the project’s money.

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