Ugh, was the Lil Tay situation all a crypto thing?

A Lil Tay cryptocurrency was launched just a day after the viral death hoax—but it's unclear who is behind what

By Mary Kate Carr  |  August 11, 2023 | 3:23pm
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Ugh, was the Lil Tay situation all a crypto thing?
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Lil Tay on Good Morning America in 2018 Screenshot: ABC/YouTube

The erroneously reported death of Lil Tay, the young rapper/viral sensation, is turning out to be a hoax on top of a hoax on top of a hoax. Or maybe a scam on top of a scam on top of a scam. Or maybe—perhaps even most likely—it’s both. It’s unclear who’s perpetrating the hoax-cum-scam, but it is clear that there are several layers of it, and at the center is the exploitation of a young girl’s fleeting fame.

Here’s the latest: after Lil Tay (whose real name is Tay Tian, according to TMZ) was seemingly confirmed as alive, a cryptocurrency was launched in her name. According to Insider, the Lil Tay crypto launched on Thursday morning with a total supply of 100 coins. The somewhat suspicious timing might cause one to wonder: was the death hoax meant as promotion for the cryptocurrency?

It’s unclear who launched the Lil Tay coin, though there’s an obvious suspect: her ex-manager Henry Tsang, who is the CEO of Liltay Token. Yet he has denied any involvement with the cryptocurrency that launched on Thursday. “One hundred percent not me,” he told Insider. “I gave a warning to everyone already. That is not us. We just took down the website and everything.” On Twitter, he added, “If you see another token/coin with liltay it’s a scam.”

Tsang also pointed fingers at Lil Tay’s brother, Jason Tian, for perpetrating the death hoax (as opposed to the post being a hack, which is what Tay’s statement to TMZ claimed). “I believe the reported hacking incident may not have occurred,” Tsang said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “[The] actions of Liltay’s brother, renowned for his propensity for extreme measures, lead me to hypothesize an alternative motive behind this occurrence.”

Over in Lil Tay’s camp, whoever sent in that TMZ statement (who that is is another of this story’s many mysteries) denied to The Daily Beast that Jason was running Tay’s social media and claimed “anyone purporting to be Tay’s ex-manager was a fraud.”

Nevertheless, Tsang asserted his belief that the death hoax was cooked up by Jason to “illicitly extract funds from devoted supporters and unwitting bystanders.” If you believe his line of thinking, it might indicate that Jason is behind the crypto coin that was launched on Thursday.

There is still no confirmation as to who launched the coin, however. For that matter, Lil Tay still hasn’t been seen publicly amidst all the drama. (She’s been largely out of the spotlight for the last five years.) It seems likely that there are conflicting interests behind the scenes—unless the interests are entirely aligned, and the drama is manufactured to drum up interest in the cryptocurrency. Whatever the truth is, it’s an undoubtedly upsetting situation.

 
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