Degens Allegedly Launched Lil Tay Token Amid Teen Rapper's Death Hoax

Following reports that an internet-famous 14-year-old rapper known as Lil Tay died this week—which has since been proven untrue—an unofficial “LilTay” crypto token featuring the teen’s name launched on BNB Chain on Wednesday.

Nobody has come forward to claim responsibility for creating LilTay, which has a supply of just over 100 tokens and has yet to be traded. It may have been launched by opportunistic crypto “degens” who sought to capitalize on the media hype around the alleged death, or pay some kind of tribute to the influencer.

Curiously, however, the BNB Chain token launch came amid the development of an upcoming Ethereum-based “Liltay Token”—created by her apparent ex-manager, Harry Tsang. He denies that his Liltay Token has any connection to the BNB Chain version launched this week.

“We decided to use ‘Liltay’ as it was a legendary meme,” Liltay Token CEO Tsang told Decrypt, “[and] also because of my former role.”

The project’s Twitter account has shared development updates for months ahead of this week’s fake death scandal. A representative for Lil Tay told Decrypt that the young influencer has nothing to do with Tsang's project.

"Tay is not at all associated with this cryptocurrency, nor did she approve of it or know anything about it," the representative said.

On Wednesday, Lil Tay’s official Instagram account was updated with a now-deleted image featuring a statement that claimed that the teenager had died, along with her brother. News outlets were unable to confirm her death, however, only adding confusion to the shock.

Come Thursday, Lil Tay issued a statement to TMZ saying that she and her brother were both alive and well, and that her “Instagram account was compromised by a third party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumors regarding me.”

The BNB Chain token was apparently launched around the time of the apparently false Instagram post on Wednesday. The timing may have been opportunistic, but it’s possible that the creator of the token also bet on potential confusion, given the public plans for an Ethereum token from someone who had previously been in the rapper’s orbit.

“We have not launched anything on [BNB Chain],” Tsang said, sharing the Etherscan blockchain explorer link with the contract data for the planned Ethereum token. “We have not put liquidity on it, just to be clear,” he added, also sharing a link to the token page on the verification platform Assure DeFi.

The Liltay Token’s Twitter account warned followers about potential scammers trying to take advantage of the situation. However, it's worth noting that some of the account's past tweets also mentioned "BSC," which is short for Binance Smart Chain—the original name for BNB Chain. They also mention "ARB," referring to Ethereum scaling network Arbitrum.

“Sharing this to let everybody know that we will not be launching anything soon. We’ve been in development for 4-5 months now,” the account tweeted Thursday. “If anybody is reaching out to you for money saying they’re involved with $LilTay, it’s not true. If you see another token/coin with ‘Liltay,’ it’s a scam.”

Tsang told Decrypt that the Ethereum token project hadn’t finalized a launch date yet due to arranging for “crypto influencer” partners and features tied to the token launch, including a merchandise shop. But the rapper’s alleged death situation changed the narrative.

“I could have launched this right now,” Tsang said, “but I absolutely had no intention to make it a pump and dump.”

A YouTube video posted in May introduced plans for the token, suggesting that the Liltay Token would be different from other influencer-led crypto projects. The video has amassed less than 500 total views to date.

Cryptocurrency users launching tokens or meme coins inspired by celebrities or real-world events is not new. On Monday, after PayPal announced the launch of its PYUSD Stablecoin, fake PYUSD tokens flooded the Ethereum blockchain.

Last month, a meme coin called BALD launched and quickly went to zero in an apparent “rug pull.” Internet sleuths linked the token to disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried or someone close to him, although the allegations have yet to be proven.

Meme coins are crypto tokens that take their names from celebrities or internet memes. The most famous meme coin, Dogecoin, named after the Shiba Inu-themed Doge meme, started as a joke. However, it surged in popularity starting in 2021, and is now one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies based on total market cap.

Amid confusion around the multiple tokens, the Twitter account tied to the Liltay Ethereum token project has tried to dispel any notions that it was involved with the BNB Chain release.

“Unlike them, our legitimacy is that we actually have someone who managed the individual,” the account claimed, “and a business plan with [a] use case.”

Editor's note: This story was updated after publication to include comment from Lil Tay's representatives.