Hawk Tuah woke up from her scam two months later and tearfully recounted the events leading upto it

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After 65 days of silence, Haliey Welch, known as the ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl, has finally broken her silence about the cryptocurrency scandal that rocked her fanbase in December 2024.

In a leaked podcast recording with FaZe Banks, Threadguy, and Frank Degods (Rohun Vora), Welch tearfully recounted the events that led to what many labeled as a “rug pull” cryptocurrency scheme.

The podcast, originally titled ‘My Crypto Failure,’ revealed that Welch was approached by a “friend of a friend” with what was presented as a long-term cryptocurrency venture. Despite her initial hesitation due to her unfamiliarity with crypto, she was convinced by the project’s supposedly community-oriented approach.

“We’re gonna change the way everyone thinks of crypto,” Welch quoted the creator as saying, adding that trusting this individual was her “biggest mistake.”

According to Welch and her lawyer Christian Barker, she received $125,000 upfront for her image and likeness, with an additional $200,000 promised within 30 days after launch – a sum that remains unpaid.

The plan involved releasing 10% of the token initially, with the remaining 90% to be distributed over three years. However, the launch took an unexpected turn when only 3% was made available for trading, while 17% went to pre-sale investors who raised $2.8 million. Two-thirds of these early investors sold their holdings on day one, causing the token’s value to plummet.

“I feel really bad about all the people that got affected by it. It just didn’t go the way I planned,” Welch said emotionally during the podcast. “I’m still a little shook up about it. I’m horrified of it.”

The developer, reportedly based in San Francisco, controls the remaining 80% of the tokens and has become unreachable.

FaZe Banks and his colleagues proposed a resolution, suggesting Welch reinvest her earnings back into the crypto market to support affected investors. However, the unexpected leak of the podcast has complicated these plans.

“Very clearly her team was not as solid as they claimed to be,” Banks stated following the leak. “They completely blew it. Poor girl, it’s a wonder how she found herself in this position in the first place.”

The scandal has significantly impacted Welch’s career, with all but one sponsor abandoning her Talk Tuah podcast. Her future plans and return to social media remain uncertain as she continues to grapple with the aftermath of the cryptocurrency debacle.