Viral internet sensation Haliey Welch, widely known as the “Hawk Tuah girl,” revealed that she was briefly investigated by both the FBI and SEC following the failed launch of a cryptocurrency token based on her likeness. The memecoin, named Hawk Tuah (HAWK), plummeted in value shortly after launch, prompting concerns of a potential exit scam.
Speaking on the May 21 episode of her podcast Talk Tuah, Welch said federal agents showed up at her grandmother’s house after the token’s release. The feds came to granny’s house… she called me, having a heart attack, saying: The FBI is here after you, what have you done? Welch recounted.
Welch said she voluntarily handed over her phone and participated in an interrogation related to the HAWK token. “They cleared me. I was good to go,” she said. She also stated that the Securities and Exchange Commission requested her phone, which she surrendered for “two or three days” before being cleared.
Her attorney, James Sallah, confirmed to TMZ in March that the SEC concluded its investigation without bringing charges or seeking penalties against Welch.
The HAWK token fallout
The HAWK token, launched in early December, lost around 90% of its value within days, with blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps later reporting that insider wallets had acquired and dumped large amounts of the token at launch. The incident quickly sparked accusations of a coordinated rug pull.
Welch, who became famous in June 2023 for a viral vox pop video, claimed she had little understanding of crypto and “trusted the wrong people. She said she could not legally name the company involved but alleged that the group controlled her X (formerly Twitter) account, created content, and scripted her promotional videos.
“I knew something was up”
On the token’s launch day, Welch said she was rushed into a room and asked to go live with YouTuber Coffeezilla, a crypto investigator known for exposing scams. Nobody warned me about this guy at all… they didn’t tell me he was like a crypto wizard,” she said.
Welch said she only received a marketing fee and claimed she earned nothing from the coin itself. Most of the funds she did receive were reportedly spent on legal and PR costs.
Despite being cleared of any legal wrongdoing, Welch accepted partial responsibility: It makes me feel really bad that [my fans] trusted me. I led them to something I didn’t have enough knowledge about… I knew that, but I got talked into it.
Although Welch was not named as a defendant, a group of HAWK token buyers filed a lawsuit in December against the coin’s alleged creators, including Alex Schultz, the Tuah the Moon Foundation, the overHere Limited launchpad, and its founder Clinton So. The lawsuit accuses them of promoting and selling HAWK as an unregistered security.
