HipHop music icon Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has publicly disclosed that he turned down a $2 million offer to participate in a cryptocurrency scam targeting his 32.6 million social media followers.
The revelation comes amid growing concerns about celebrity-linked crypto fraud schemes.
In a February 7 post on X, Ye shared details of the rejected proposal, which included a planned “fake Ye currency” and a sophisticated deception strategy. The scheme would have paid him $750,000 upfront to promote the fraudulent cryptocurrency, followed by a staged account “hack” announcement and an additional $1.25 million payment.
I was proposed 2 million dollars to scam my community Those left of it I said no and stopped working with their person who proposed it pic.twitter.com/WKHdP9FkOq
— ye (@kanyewest) February 7, 2025
“I was offered 2 million dollars to scam my community. Those left of it. I said no and stopped working with the person who proposed it,”
Ye stated, sharing screenshots of the proposal. The leaked messages indicated the scheme could have potentially defrauded investors of tens of millions of dollars.
An hour after his initial post, Ye shared another screenshot of a private conversation. In the exchange, he asked an unnamed X user to connect him with a “crypto contact” who could bypass middlemen. The user suggested Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and offered to request his contact information.
The revelations sparked mixed reactions. Crypto commentator Armeanio urged Ye to explore legitimate crypto applications like using blockchain for merchandise sales, warning that celebrity tokens often harm retail investors. Meanwhile, analyst Crypto Vic speculated Ye isn’t launching a token but rather building hype ahead of a new album.
Ye’s post comes amid another celebrity-linked crypto scandal. In January, the social media accounts of actor Dean Norris (known for his role in Breaking Bad) was hacked to promote a fraudulent token, “DEAN.” The scam temporarily pushed its market cap over $8 million before Norris regained control. He later denounced the scheme, thanked the platform for restoring his account, and urged users to ignore the fake promotion.
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