Hayden Adams, founder of Uniswap, has burned 99% of the total HayCoin (HAY) supply, citing concerns surrounding price speculation over the past few days.
Adams was considerably surprised at the recent surge in the token’s trading volume and its perceived transformation into a memes token.
Uniswap Creator Burns HayCoin Holdings
Adams burned over 99% of the HayCoin (HAY) token supply on the 20th of August and made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter). Adams revealed that he was concerned about the token’s price speculation over the past few days. He was also surprised at how the token was being treated like a meme coin, stating, “Crypto can be weird sometimes.”
The HAY token was deployed around five years ago, primarily for testing purposes, just before the launch of the decentralized protocol Uniswap. At the time, Adams had created a small test liquidity pool with a fraction of the total supply. The remaining 99.9% of HAY tokens were held in his wallet. A few weeks ago, the HAY token was trading as a meme coin in the six-figure range, prompting Adams to act.
“Five years ago, before the launch of Uniswap v1, I deployed a token called HayCoin to use for testing. This was back when gas was so cheap that the mainnet could be used as a testnet. After the launch of v1, I created a small test liquidity pool with a tiny fraction of the total supply and left the remainder in my wallet. I also used it to test the migration contract from Uniswap v1 to v2.”
He also added that people had been purchasing the token as a joke and increasingly treating it like a meme coin.
“Over the years, a few people have noticed it and bought it as a joke/for the novelty of it. Was extremely surprised to see people buying and selling significant dollar amounts this past week, treating it like a memecoin. Crypto can be weird sometimes.”
Not Comfortable Owning The Entire Supply
Adams explained that he wasn’t comfortable holding nearly the entire supply of the HAY token. According to the post, around $650 billion worth of the token was burnt,
“Ultimately, I’m uncomfortable owning almost the entire supply (~99.99%) of a token that people are memeing and speculating on, so I decided to burn the full amount in my wallet (” valued” at an absurd ~$650b). “
The Uniswap founder called the price speculation surrounding the token silly, adding he did not wish to be associated with the token.
“I will have no future involvement, have burned all the HAY in my wallet, and think speculating on it is silly. Also prefer a new logo that is not my PFP – ultimately, if my photo is used in this way, I may consider image takedowns.”
HAY Token Price Surges Over $4 Million
Following the burn, the HayCoin price saw an unprecedented surge, rising from around $657,000 at 7 PM on Friday to a remarkable $4 million in just three hours, according to data sourced from CoinGecko. This represents a price increase of a staggering 300%. At the time of writing, the token is trading at a staggering $3.1 million. When a token is burnt, it is permanently removed from circulation. However, it also creates an inflationary effect on the token’s price because it reduces the number of available units in circulation.
Crypto Community Not Convinced
The move by Adams raised a few eyebrows within the crypto community on X. One user accused Adams of profiteering from the token before the burn.
“Funny, considering you made 6 figures from selling it. You shouldn’t have too much bad to say other than, “Thanks, and I burnt the rest.” Super deceptive of you the way you worded this.”
However, Adams responded by stating that he had not sold any tokens except those sold in test transactions years ago. One crucial fact to remember is that even after the burn, over half of the remaining HAY tokens in circulation are held within a single wallet. According to data from Etherscan, a single wallet holds around 54% of the remaining tokens.
Users on X also pointed out that apart from the price impact on the HAY token, the token burning could also be considered a taxable event. One user noted,
“Assuming a cost basis of $0, a ~$650 billion disposal gives rise to ~$128 billion long-term capital gains liability.”
Another user added that Adams could have sold the tokens and donated the profits.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
