No, Kanye West Isn’t Launching His Controversial Memecoin on Cardano, Charles Hoskinson Confirms

• Kanye West reportedly sold his X account to the memecoin group and alleged scammer Barkmeta.
• The rapper may have been considering launching his own token on Cardano.
• West allegedly failed to obtain the contact details of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

International superstar Kanye West (Ye) is seemingly teasing a controversial foray into Web3 with his blockchain and memecoin, YZYCHAIN and YZY.

However, it would appear as though Ye is being stonewalled and shunned by the community, as Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and others reject the rap icon’s attempts to advance into the industry.

Kanye on Cardano

On Feb. 21, sources close to Ye suggested he was planning to launch a memecoin, YZY, after dropping several hints in recent days—including a possible debut on the Cardano blockchain.

However, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson swiftly shut down the rumors.

“I know some people are talking about it, but it doesn’t even look like he’s actually doing anything of value,” Hoskinson said in his video.

“Looks like he sold his Twitter account for $17 million to the Barkmeta guys for them to do a scam. Even if he didn’t, I don’t think we want that. It’s too much drama,” the founder added.

While a Ye-backed coin may not be coming to Cardano, the situation remains murky.

Is Barkmeta in Control?

It’s very likely Ye isn’t in control of his account.

There are reports  that Barkmeta, a memecoin trader or trading group, bought Ye’s X account for $17 million.

Hoskinson suggested as much, saying Ye may have sold access, and the evidence is piling up.

In the middle of all this, Barkmeta posted on X , hyping up a supposed Ye-backed crypto project.

Ye pushed back , resharing Barkmeta’s post with a blunt denial:

“This is not real. I don’t know this person. Ten years ago, it used to be fun to follow random people. I’m a rich guy who’s been ripped off by some of my so-called ‘friends,’ but this coin opportunity is next level. When I do launch my coin, I will make it very clear and very official.”

But no one is buying it.

According to many observers, the post’s spacing, lack of punctuation, and style follow Barkmeta’s stylings to a tee.

A live stream from Barkmeta didn’t help either— the trader dodged every question about the situation, only adding to the confusion.

Meanwhile, an investigation by the crypto trader BladeDeFi, or BLADE, alleges that Barkmeta is actually a scam operation.

He pointed to a leaked Discord call from December 2024 that, if real, paints a troubling picture.

And then there’s Ye’s own history.

He’s dismissed memecoins before, calling them useless.

On Feb. 7, in a now-deleted post, he claimed he had turned down a $2 million offer to launch what he called a “crypto scam.”

There’s also the bizarre Binance episode —Ye tried to get in touch with former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, but he had a meltdown when he couldn’t.

At this point, either his account has been taken over, or he’s leaning into the chaos, stirring up yet another controversy. With Ye, it could be either one.