Melania Trump's Meme Coin Creators Hit with Pump-and-Dump Fraud Legal Action
The architects behind a cryptocurrency released by US First Lady Melania Trump are now accused in court filings of executing a market manipulation plot.
Initial Launch and Value Spike
The $MELANIA tokens were released for under a dollar each on January 19, just prior to Donald Trump assumed the presidency.
Alongside the Melania cryptocurrency, Trump himself released his own digital currency shortly prior to the swearing-in event.
Within hours, the value of the $MELANIA cryptocurrency soared to over $13 per token.
Rapid Decline in Value
Nevertheless, the market price subsequently crashed just as rapidly, and presently trades for only about 10 cents – less than one percent of its highest value.
Meanwhile, the $TRUMP token achieved a maximum of over forty-five dollars and now trades for approximately five seventy-nine.
Legal Allegations and Investors' Arguments
The investors claim that the coin's creators organized the operation conscious that the cryptocurrency's price would decline sharply.
The First Lady personally is not included in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs stated they do not believe she was responsible, but charged the digital currency firms of using her and other prominent figures as window dressing for their illegal activities.
Trading Venue Involvement
In newly filed court papers, claimants charge leaders of the Meteora digital asset exchange, where $MELANIA was first exchanged, of establishing a plan that permitted them to secretly buy significant amounts of the digital token.
Their accomplices then promptly liquidated these digital currencies, pocketing substantial profits while causing the market to collapse, according to papers submitted in Manhattan federal court.
Wider Proceedings
The claims about the First Lady's coin have been incorporated into legal proceedings involving several other virtual tokens, which started in the month of April.
The Trump organization has allegedly generated over one billion dollars in pre-tax earnings from multiple digital currency-linked ventures and firms over the past 12 months.
