First Lady's Meme Coin Architects Facing Market Manipulation Fraud Lawsuit

The developers behind a virtual coin introduced by US First Lady Melania Trump have been accused in legal documents of planning a pump-and-dump scheme.

Coin Release and Value Spike

The $MELANIA coins were released for a minimal price each on the 19th of January, just prior to former President Trump took office.

Together with the First Lady's token, the former president launched his personal token just ahead of the inauguration ceremony.

In a matter of hours, the price of the $MELANIA token surged to over $13 per token.

Rapid Decline in Value

However, the market price plummeted almost as quickly, and currently stands at less than 15 cents – below 1% of its highest value.

In parallel, the $TRUMP cryptocurrency hit a high of $45.47 and now trades for under six dollars.

Legal Allegations and Plaintiffs' Position

The claimants assert that the token's architects organized the scheme knowing that the token's worth would decline sharply.

Melania Trump herself is not named in the court case. Investors stated they do not believe she was at fault, but charged the crypto companies of using her and other familiar faces as a cover for their fraudulent schemes.

Trading Venue Involvement

As per fresh court papers, investors accuse executives of the Meteora trading platform, where Melania's coin was initially traded, of setting up a scheme that enabled them to indirectly purchase significant amounts of the cryptocurrency.

Their accomplices then promptly liquidated these cryptocurrencies, pocketing substantial profits while causing the market to collapse, according to records entered in Manhattan federal court.

Broader Context

The charges concerning $MELANIA have been included in legal proceedings involving various other digital currencies, which began in spring.

Trump-associated entities has reportedly generated in excess of a billion dollars in pre-tax gains from multiple digital currency-linked enterprises and organizations over the previous twelve months.