Hawk Tuah girl Haliey Welch has opened up about what she's learned from her cryptocurrency debacle - admitting she 'doesn't really understand' how the digital currency works.
The 22-year-old has endured a rollercoaster few years after being catapulted to fame following her NSFW ‘Hawk Tuah’ clip.
Capitalizing on her newfound celebrity status, Welch launched her own podcast, hilariously titled Talk Tuah, and then the infamous $HAWK memecoin.
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The cryptocurrency, which was reportedly never registered with The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), hit a $490m market cap shortly after it launched on December 5, as per Crypto Times.
But it took a nosedive within hours, with Bloomberg Law reporting the digital coin actually lost more than 90 percent of its value.
Fans complained they'd lost a great deal of money on the coin, with some even alleging they'd lost their entire life savings.
People who felt misled took legal action against the coin's creators, and the SEC launched an investigation into the fiasco.
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In March, Welch’s lawyers confirmed that the star would not be facing any charges.
Following the fallout, Welch dipped from social media for around three months, later returning with a rather bizarre Instagram video which seemed to make light of the speculation surrounding her time off.
Now, in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Welch gave her verdict on crypto and explained what she did during her hiatus.
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Responding to the interviewer's admission of 'barely' understanding the digital currency, Welch responded: "Yeah, I don’t really understand it much myself either. I don’t know."
She went on: "It was one of those things that just happened, and I feel sorry for everybody that just lost money…. I don’t know.
"I’ve learned from that. You got to be really careful what you tie your name to, and you definitely need to know what you’re getting yourself into when you agree to do it."
Asked what else she learned from the experience - and whether she had anything to say to the people who lost their savings - Welch responded: "I would say, personally, what I learned from it…let’s see…I don’t know."
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She continued: "I just feel really bad for anybody that lost money. All my comments, if you read those, people are like, 'Oh, well, I lost a lot of money in this. Now my kids have to go without stuff.'"
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She concluded: "I don’t know. It makes me feel, like, really sorry for it."
Welch went on to admit she went off-grid following the scandal for a 'much-needed mental health break'.
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"I would see my friends. I would go out and eat. That’s really about it," she detailed. "I don’t ever get out and do much when I’m home. I like being by myself."
Elsewhere, Welch made her return into the spotlight on Friday (May 2) in a Celebrity Poker Tour (CPT) event at ARIA's PokerGO Studio.
At the table, Welch explained how she was feeling about trying her hand at the new venture, telling PokerNews: "I'm a little nervous. It's a smaller (one-table event), so everyone's going to be watching our table. And I still don't know what I'm doing."
She added: "I'm in the middle of rebranding right now," she continued. "I've had a lot of time to think. I want to rebrand."
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As for what she’s going to do, Welch teased: "I guess you'll have to watch and see."
Watch this space - but whatever you do, maybe think twice before sinking your life savings into this one.
Topics: Cryptocurrency, Social Media, Viral, Hawk Tuah girl
Ellie Kemp