A meme coin launched by viral influencer Haliey Welch of the "Hawk Tuah" fame became a subject of controversy on Wednesday after it pumped and dumped, eroding millions of dollars in market value in quick time.

What happened: HAWK, launched on Solana SOL/USD-based Meteora on Wednesday, swiftly gained a market valuation of almost $425 million before plummeting to $30 million within five hours, according to Dexscreener data.

As of this writing, the meme coin was valued slightly higher at $48 million, but still 90% down from the initial frenzy.