The story of Kanye West’s YZY token has unfolded like a slow-motion car crash. What started with hype and euphoria on Aug. 21, when the token shot up 1,400 per cent in the first hour, collapsed just as fast, with the coin now trading 80 per cent below its peak. On the surface, it looks like another typical memecoin cycle. But the scale of the damage here is staggering: more than 51,800 traders out of a total 70,200 ended up with losses. In plain terms, that means the majority of people who touched this token got burned.
The numbers are as cruel as they are revealing. Only 11 wallets managed to walk away with more than $1 million in profit. Just 99 others cleared $100,000. Meanwhile, three traders lost over $1 million each, according to data from Bubblemaps. This is the reality of memecoins dressed up with celebrity branding, hype in the front, financial ruin in the back.
The broader data confirms the fallout. As of now, only 19,531 traders are still holding YZY, down from tens of thousands earlier, according to Nansen. The token price sits at $0.5515, far from its euphoric highs. In other words, the fanfare collapsed into a grim reminder that a celebrity face doesn’t equal blockchain utility.
Even high-profile figures weren’t spared. Andrew Tate, the controversial former kickboxer, thought he could outsmart the hype. He opened a 3x leveraged short position on the YZY token. Instead of a win, he walked away with a $700,000 loss on his Hyperliquid account, as reported by Cointelegraph. In that sense, the token punished both true believers and opportunistic traders alike.
Trump’s Fed chair shortlist: crypto curiosity inside central bank politics
Away from token hype, another story quietly sets the stage for crypto’s long-term place in U.S. policy. The Trump administration is weighing at least 11 names to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair when his term expires in May. Among these candidates, three have made constructive comments about crypto in the past, a detail that crypto markets will not ignore.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News this week that there are “very strong candidates” under consideration, with vetting set to begin next month. Reports from CNBC put names on the table: Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson, Fed Governor Chris Waller, Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, and former Fed Governor Larry Lindsey. That’s just the start. The list also stretches beyond central banking veterans to include Bush-era adviser Marc Sumerlin, Jefferies strategist David Zervos, and BlackRock heavyweight Rick Rieder.
The Federal Reserve’s leadership has always had outsized influence on risky assets. When rates are low, speculative markets like crypto get a boost. When rates climb, liquidity drains and crypto usually suffers. This is why the prospect of a crypto-friendly chair matters: it could shape how U.S. monetary policy interacts with the sector.
Rick Rieder in particular stands out. He’s not a fringe player but BlackRock’s chief investment officer for global fixed income. Earlier this year, he told The Wall Street Journal that Bitcoin could “be a big part of the asset allocation framework” and suggested its staying power was no longer in doubt. In other words, the idea of a major Fed chair candidate openly validating Bitcoin would have been unthinkable years ago. Now, it’s on the table.
Cathie Wood doubles down on BitMine, ARK’s crypto stock strategy
If anyone still doubts Cathie Wood’s appetite for high-risk, high-reward plays, the latest ARK Invest moves should clear it up. On Wednesday, ARK Invest bought another $15.6 million worth of shares in BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), spreading the purchase across three of its funds. ARK Innovation ETF snapped up 227,569 shares, ARK Next Generation Internet ETF added 70,991, and ARK Fintech Innovation ETF took 40,553.This isn’t a casual bet. With the new purchase, ARK’s total BitMine stake now exceeds $300 million. To put that into perspective, it’s nearly half the size of its Coinbase position, which still sits around $676 million after a recent trim of 5,721 COIN shares.BitMine isn’t just any crypto stock it’s a company with heavy Ether exposure. Its ETH holdings are now around $7.5 billion, making ARK’s position a backdoor bet on Ethereum itself. Wood has been buying aggressively since July 21, when she committed $174 million in a single day. More followed: another $17 million on Aug. 2, and now this fresh round.ARK’s buying spree hasn’t stopped at BitMine. Over the past week, it added $21.2 million in Bullish stock and $16.2 million in Robinhood Markets. Earlier this month, it scooped up $19.2 million in Block shares, marking a return after a stretch of selling. As of this week, ARK holds around $543 million in Robinhood stock.But this aggressive accumulation comes with volatility baked in. BitMine shares fell 8 per cent on Wednesday to $46.03 and dropped another 2.22 per cent after hours to $45.01, according to Google Finance. That’s the short-term pain. The long-term picture, however, still shows BitMine up nearly 490 per cent this year. Its revenue hit $2.05 million for the quarter ended May, a 67.5 per cent jump from the prior year, while its profit margin grew 43 per cent. Those are not numbers Cathie Wood ignores.
