Melania Trump's Meme Coin Architects Facing Pump-and-Dump Scam Lawsuit
The developers responsible for a cryptocurrency launched by First Lady of the United States Melania Trump have been accused in court filings of executing a pump-and-dump scheme.
Initial Launch and Value Spike
The $MELANIA cryptocurrency were released for under a dollar each on January 19, the day before former President Trump assumed the presidency.
Together with the First Lady's token, Donald Trump launched his personal token just ahead of the inauguration ceremony.
Within hours, the market value of the $MELANIA token surged to over $13 per unit.
Rapid Decline in Price
Yet, the market price plummeted almost as quickly, and is now approximately a dime – less than a fraction of its maximum worth.
At the same time, the $TRUMP token reached a peak of $45.47 and presently sells for approximately five seventy-nine.
Court Claims and Plaintiffs' Position
The investors claim that the currency's developers planned the operation conscious that the cryptocurrency's price would plummet.
The First Lady herself is not included in the court case. Claimants clarified they do not believe she was at fault, but accused the blockchain organizations of using her and other prominent figures as window dressing for their fraudulent schemes.
Trading Venue Involvement
According to recently submitted federal filings, plaintiffs charge officials of the Meteora trading platform, where $MELANIA was initially traded, of setting up a plan that enabled them to indirectly purchase significant amounts of the cryptocurrency.
Their partners then promptly liquidated these digital currencies, securing large returns while leading to the price to plummet, as stated in papers submitted in New York federal court.
Wider Proceedings
The claims concerning the First Lady's coin have been added to legal proceedings regarding various other cryptocurrencies, which started in the month of April.
The Trump organization has allegedly earned over $1 billion in pre-tax profits from several digital currency-linked products and companies over the last year.
