Hawk Tuah Girl Says SEC Drops Investigation Into Solana Meme Coin: TMZ
Haliey Welch, better known online as the girl behind “Hawk Tuah,” is no longer worried about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) investigation into her meme coin after the agency decided to drop the investigation, she told TMZ on Friday.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been cooperating with all the authorities and lawyers, and finally, it’s done,” she told TMZ.
Welch launched a meme coin on Solana in December that quickly crashed, sparking outrage in the community and forcing her to temporarily take her social media accounts offline. Welch, a Tennessee native,’s HAWK meme coin once reached a market cap of $490 million before dropping 93% in just minutes.
While it is known that Welch has cooperated with lawyers in a civil lawsuit against the creators of HAWK, it has not been made public that she was previously under investigation by the SEC.
According to Welch's attorney, the SEC closed its investigation without making any conclusions and without imposing any financial sanctions on her, which has allowed her to freely engage in activities related to cryptocurrencies and securities.
The collapse of HAWK has raised concerns about liability for celebrities who promote meme coins and those who issue them. The SEC has issued guidance that they do not consider meme coins to be securities, meaning they are not subject to their regulatory purview.
Haliey Welch to be featured in upcoming documentary
According to Deadline, Haliey Welch, aka “Hawk Tuah Girl,” will be the main subject of a new documentary produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment. Welch rose to fame in mid-2024 after a street interview went viral. In that interview, when asked about “the one move in bed that drives men crazy every time,” she famously responded, “You gotta give them the ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that ladder!” The video has been viewed more than 9 million times on YouTube.
The SEC declined to comment to Decrypt on whether there is an investigation involving Welch. A spokesperson for Welch also did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
Meme coins are cryptocurrencies that are often driven by marketing and hype, not based on any real value. Welch is one of several celebrities who have joined the movement, including Caitlyn Jenner, Jason Derulo, and Cardi B.
The civil lawsuit against the creators of HAWK is not aimed at Welch, but at crypto startup HERE, its founder Clinton So, influencer Alex Larson Schultz (aka “Doc Hollywood”), and the so-called Tuah the Moon Foundation.
In a now-deleted interview with Richard “FaZe Banks” Bengtson, Welch admitted that she regrets what happened with her crypto endeavors. She also said that her knowledge of cryptocurrencies was limited and that she did not fully understand what she was doing.
The price of HAWK suddenly spiked on Friday, with a 25% increase on the decentralized exchange (DEX) Meteora, according to data from GeckoTerminal. The meme coin currently has a market cap of $4 million and generated $333,000 worth of trading volume over the past 24 hours.
TMZ says Welch has no plans to re-promote her failed meme coin, though. For now, she plans to focus on appearing in the upcoming documentary.