Melania Trump's Meme Coin Creators Facing Pump-and-Dump Fraud Lawsuit
The designers behind a virtual coin launched by First Lady of the United States Melania Trump are now charged in federal papers of executing a fraudulent operation.
Initial Launch and Value Spike
The $MELANIA tokens were made available for under a dollar each on the 19th of January, just prior to former President Trump took office.
Alongside the Melania cryptocurrency, Trump himself launched his own digital currency shortly prior to the inauguration ceremony.
Shortly after launch, the market value of the $MELANIA cryptocurrency skyrocketed to over $13 per token.
Sudden Collapse in Value
However, the price then collapsed just as rapidly, and is now less than 15 cents – under one percent of its maximum worth.
Meanwhile, the $TRUMP token achieved a maximum of over forty-five dollars and presently sells for $5.79.
Legal Allegations and Plaintiffs' Position
The investors allege that the currency's developers organized the operation conscious that the token's worth would crash.
Melania Trump personally is not mentioned in the legal action. Investors clarified they do not believe she was responsible, but alleged the crypto companies of using her and other prominent figures as a cover for their criminal operations.
Exchange Platform Involvement
According to recently submitted legal documents, investors charge leaders of the Meteora trading platform, where the First Lady's token was initially traded, of setting up a plan that enabled them to secretly buy large quantities of the virtual coin.
Associated individuals then promptly liquidated these cryptocurrencies, securing large returns while leading to the value to crash, as stated in papers submitted in federal court in Manhattan.
Broader Context
The allegations concerning the Melania token have been added to judicial actions involving several other cryptocurrencies, which started in April.
Trump-associated entities has reportedly secured over $1 billion in pre-tax profits from several cryptocurrency-related products and companies over the last year.
