Melania Trump's Meme Coin Creators Hit with Market Manipulation Fraud Legal Action
The designers behind a cryptocurrency released by US First Lady Melania Trump have been alleged in legal documents of planning a market manipulation plot.
Initial Launch and Value Spike
The $MELANIA tokens were issued for under a dollar each on January 19th, one day preceding Donald Trump was inaugurated.
In addition to the Melania cryptocurrency, the former president introduced his personal token a few hours before the inauguration ceremony.
Shortly after launch, the value of the $MELANIA cryptocurrency surged to $13.73 per coin.
Sudden Collapse in Price
Yet, the price plummeted just as rapidly, and is now less than 15 cents – under a fraction of its highest value.
In parallel, the $TRUMP cryptocurrency hit a high of over forty-five dollars and currently exchanges for approximately five seventy-nine.
Court Claims and Plaintiffs' Position
The investors allege that the token's architects executed the operation aware that the cryptocurrency's price would plummet.
Melania Trump herself is not included in the lawsuit. Investors indicated they do not think she was at fault, but charged the digital currency firms of leveraging her and other familiar faces as window dressing for their illegal activities.
Exchange Platform Involvement
According to recently submitted federal filings, investors charge leaders of the Meteora trading platform, where the First Lady's token was originally listed, of setting up a operation that allowed them to secretly buy large quantities of the digital token.
Their accomplices then rapidly offloaded these virtual tokens, earning significant gains while leading to the value to crash, as stated in papers submitted in federal court in Manhattan.
Broader Context
The allegations regarding the Melania token have been incorporated into legal proceedings involving various other virtual tokens, which began in spring.
Trump-associated entities has allegedly secured over $1 billion in pre-tax profits from various cryptocurrency-related products and companies over the previous twelve months.
