Melania Trump's Meme Coin Architects Hit with Market Manipulation Scam Lawsuit
The architects behind a cryptocurrency released by US First Lady Melania Trump are now accused in court filings of executing a fraudulent operation.
Initial Launch and Price Surge
The $MELANIA tokens were released for just a few cents each on January 19th, just prior to Donald Trump took office.
Together with the Melania cryptocurrency, the former president introduced his $TRUMP coin just ahead of the presidential inauguration.
Shortly after launch, the market value of the $MELANIA coin surged to $13.73 per coin.
Sudden Collapse in Value
However, the market price subsequently crashed with similar speed, and currently stands at less than 15 cents – less than one percent of its maximum worth.
Meanwhile, the $TRUMP coin achieved a maximum of over forty-five dollars and presently sells for $5.79.
Legal Allegations and Plaintiffs' Position
The investors assert that the currency's developers organized the scheme knowing that the cryptocurrency's price would plummet.
Mrs. Trump herself is not named in the court case. Investors stated they do not think she was responsible, but alleged the digital currency firms of leveraging her and other well-known personalities as a facade for their criminal operations.
Trading Venue Role
In newly filed court papers, plaintiffs allege executives of the Meteora digital asset exchange, where the First Lady's token was first exchanged, of setting up a plan that enabled them to secretly buy large quantities of the cryptocurrency.
Associated individuals then quickly resold these virtual tokens, securing large returns while triggering the price to plummet, according to documents filed in New York federal court.
Wider Proceedings
The charges concerning the First Lady's coin have been incorporated into court cases regarding multiple additional cryptocurrencies, which started in the month of April.
The Trump family has reportedly secured over a billion dollars in pre-tax profits from several digital currency-linked products and companies over the past 12 months.
