Meme Insider
Hey there, crypto enthusiasts! If you've been keeping an eye on the wild world of meme coins, you probably heard about Kanye West—now going by Ye—dropping his very own token called YZY on the Solana blockchain. It happened just yesterday on August 20, 2025, and boy, did it stir up a storm. Promising a "new economy built on chain," Ye shared the launch on social media, but things quickly turned into the classic meme coin rollercoaster: a massive pump followed by a sharp dump. According to reports from Billboard and Cointelegraph, the token skyrocketed to a $3 billion market cap in under an hour before crashing down to around $1 billion amid whispers of insider trading.
But what's really fascinating is the on-chain data breaking down how traders fared in this frenzy. A deep dive shared by on-chain researcher @defioasis on X paints a pretty grim picture for most participants. Let's break it down step by step, keeping things simple—after all, not everyone is a blockchain wizard.
First off, what is on-chain analysis? It's basically looking at the public ledger of transactions on the blockchain to see who's buying, selling, and how much they're making (or losing). In this case, the data covers the first day of YZY trading, with a whopping 56,050 unique addresses getting involved.
The Big Picture: One-Way vs. Two-Way Traders
Out of those addresses:
- About 44.9% (25,166 addresses) only did one-sided trades. That means they either just bought and held (23,723 addresses) or just sold (1,443 addresses).
- The buyers might include "dust addresses"—tiny transactions used to inflate stats—or folks who got in early and are now stuck holding the bag as prices drop.
- The sellers? Likely project insiders or big holders using multiple wallets to dump tokens without being easily tracked.
The real action is in the 30,884 addresses that bought and sold (two-way trading), where we can calculate realized profits and losses. Realized PnL (profit and loss) means the actual gains or losses from closed trades, not just paper values.
As you can see in this pie chart from the analysis, the results aren't pretty:
- Profits: Only 38.07% (11,759 addresses) came out ahead.
- The majority of winners (30.1%, or 9,308 addresses) made a modest $0–500.
- A tiny elite—1.31% (406 addresses)—profited over $10,000, including 5 addresses that raked in more than $1 million each. But get this: two of those were brand-new wallets, and one was flagged as an insider. Smells like front-running, right?
- Losses: A staggering 61.93% lost money, with most (48.4%, or 14,957 addresses) down $0–500. But one unlucky soul realized a loss exceeding $1 million—ouch!
For a more detailed breakdown, check out this table from the on-chain query, which includes one-sided trades too:
| Profit/Loss Range | Wallet Count | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Profit >1M USD | 5 | 0.0% |
| Profit 100K-1M USD | 62 | 0.1% |
| Profit 10K-100K USD | 339 | 0.6% |
| Profit 5K-10K USD | 288 | 0.5% |
| Profit 1K-5K USD | 1,083 | 1.9% |
| Profit 500-1K USD | 674 | 1.2% |
| Profit 0-500 USD | 9,308 | 16.6% |
| Loss 0-500 USD | 14,957 | 26.7% |
| Loss 500-1K USD | 1,273 | 2.3% |
| Loss 1K-5K USD | 1,878 | 3.4% |
| Loss 5K-10K USD | 429 | 0.8% |
| Loss 10K-100K USD | 523 | 0.9% |
| Loss 100K-1M USD | 64 | 0.1% |
| Loss >1M USD | 1 | 0.0% |
| Only buyers | 23,723 | 42.3% |
| Only sellers | 1,443 | 2.6% |
This isn't Ye's first brush with crypto criticism. He previously called out memecoins for "preying on fans," yet here we are with YZY, which even got promoted on platforms like Xiaohongshu (China's version of Instagram). The quick pump and dump, coupled with insider profits, echoes issues seen in other celebrity tokens, like those from Milei (referenced in the original post as a comparison).
Lessons from the YZY Saga
Meme coins like YZY thrive on hype, but the data shows they're a gamble where the house (or insiders) often wins. If you're dipping your toes in:
- DYOR (Do Your Own Research): Check on-chain tools like Dune Analytics (where this data likely came from) to spot suspicious activity.
- Beware of FOMO: Celebrity endorsements can drive prices up fast, but crashes are just as swift.
- Risk Management: Only invest what you can afford to lose—remember that one guy down over a mil?
As the meme coin space evolves, stories like YZY remind us why building a solid knowledge base is key. Stay tuned to Meme Insider for more breakdowns on the latest tokens shaking up the blockchain world. What do you think—will Ye's "new economy" bounce back, or is this just another fade? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
