Gushiken Yona
Shytoshi Kusama, the enigmatic visionary behind the Shiba Inu (SHIB) crypto project, has made waves in the crypto community by shedding light on his involvement (or lack thereof) with the controversial $HAWK token and its proposed airdrop to the ShibArmy, the Shiba Inu community. Kusama’s candid revelations stirred reactions across social media and ignited a fresh debate on the ethics of airdrops and token launches in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi).
Kusama’s Initial Disinterest in $HAWK
In a thread on X (formerly Twitter), Kusama explained that his involvement with $HAWK was minimal, revealing that the project’s team had first approached him several months ago, offering him the role of a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) to promote the token. Kusama, however, turned down the offer.
Despite his initial distance from the project, Kusama later agreed to an airdrop proposal from the $HAWK team, which intended to distribute millions of tokens to the Shiba Inu community. The X account of Shib retweeted the airdrop Thursday.
According to Kusama, they were “expecting time to set up the system to get the army involved and do things properly. And what happens? Instant launch?! Pump and obvious dumping; even denial of doing so! Which IMHO is shameful and just like 90% of crap on Solana.”
Kusama also emphasized that agreeing to the airdrop did not imply any form of partnership between himself and the $HAWK team. “This wasn’t a partnership. It was a gesture for the community,” he noted.
Kusama’s Initial Airdrop Inquiry Underscores Focus on Community Benefit
Before the $HAWK token launched, Kusama demonstrated a keen interest in airdrops that could genuinely benefit the Shiba Inu community, or Shib Army. He conducted a poll on X (formerly Twitter) to gauge the community’s stance on receiving tokens from legitimate projects.
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Kusama asked, “Okay let’s settle this: A legit project wants to AIRDROP the Shib Army (and Leash) tokens. For… free. What do we do?”
The results of the poll were revealing: 52% of participants expressed a willingness to gladly accept the tokens from trustworthy projеcts, highlighting their оpenness to external contributions. However, 34% of respondents chose to ignore them and stick to Shiba Inu only, emphasizing a preference for focusing exclusively on the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
Meanwhile, 14% of voters were more cautious and wanted to negotiate a 10% or more share, indicating a more conditional approach to these airdrops.
The $HAWK Token Launсh: A Nightmare Unfolds
The $HAWK token’s launch was marked by extreme volatility. Its price surged to a reported $500 million market cap before crashing to below $60 million within 20 minutes.
Related: Kusama Reveals Details Of New AI Product in Recent Livestream
This rapid price action, coupled with social media reports of substantial investor losses, fueled allegations of a pump-and-dump scheme.
The controversy deepened as on-chain data came to light. Blockchain analytics platform Bubble Maps revealed that 96% of the $HAWK supply was initially concentrated in a single address, a red flag in any token launch.
Following the initial distribution, over 80% of the supply was still controlled by the project’s team. According to DexCheck AI, one of the wallets that received a large portion of the initial tokens sold a portion for a significant profit, making $2.3 million from the sale of 136 million $HAWK tokens.
Kusama, following his revelations about $HAWK and what happened in the backdrop, initiated another poll on X to gauge the community’s opinion on the airdrop. The results were unequivocal: 65.4% voted for “Burn tua Shib,” advocating for the destruction of the tokens.
This overwhelming response indicated a clear preference for the Shib Army to distаnce itself from the $HAWK token entirely, reaffirming the communitу’s commitment to preserving the integrity of the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
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YONA GUSHIKEN
Yona brings a decade of experience covering gaming, tech, and blockchain news. As one of the few women in crypto journalism, her mission is to demystify complex technical subjects for a wider audience. Her work blends professional insight with engaging narratives, aiming to educate and entertain.
