First Lady's Meme Coin Architects Facing Market Manipulation Scam Lawsuit
The architects behind a virtual coin introduced by First Lady of the United States Melania Trump are now charged in legal documents of executing a pump-and-dump scheme.
Initial Launch and Value Spike
The $MELANIA cryptocurrency were released for just a few cents each on the 19th of January, the day before former President Trump took office.
Alongside the First Lady's token, Donald Trump introduced his $TRUMP coin just ahead of the presidential inauguration.
Shortly after launch, the price of the $MELANIA coin surged to $13.73 per token.
Sudden Collapse in Value
Yet, the market price then collapsed almost as quickly, and is now only about 10 cents – less than 1% of its highest value.
At the same time, the $TRUMP cryptocurrency hit a high of over forty-five dollars and currently exchanges for under six dollars.
Legal Allegations and Plaintiffs' Position
The plaintiffs claim that the token's architects executed the maneuver knowing that the token's worth would crash.
Melania Trump herself is not mentioned in the court case. Claimants clarified they do not believe she was responsible, but alleged the blockchain organizations of exploiting her and other prominent figures as a cover for their illegal activities.
Exchange Platform Involvement
According to recently submitted legal documents, claimants charge officials of the Meteora digital asset exchange, where the First Lady's token was first exchanged, of establishing a scheme that allowed them to secretly buy substantial volumes of the digital token.
Their accomplices then quickly resold these digital currencies, securing large returns while leading to the market to collapse, according to records entered in federal court in Manhattan.
Broader Context
The claims about the First Lady's coin have been added to court cases concerning multiple additional virtual tokens, which began in spring.
Trump-associated entities has allegedly secured more than one billion dollars in pre-tax earnings from several cryptocurrency-related ventures and firms over the last year.
