Melania Trump's Meme Coin Creators Facing Market Manipulation Fraud Lawsuit
The architects behind a cryptocurrency released by US First Lady Melania Trump are now charged in legal documents of orchestrating a market manipulation plot.
Initial Launch and Value Spike
The $MELANIA coins were released for under a dollar each on the 19th of January, the day before former President Trump was inaugurated.
In addition to the Melania cryptocurrency, Donald Trump introduced his $TRUMP coin just ahead of the inauguration ceremony.
Within hours, the market value of the $MELANIA cryptocurrency soared to $13.73 per coin.
Sudden Collapse in Price
However, the price subsequently crashed with similar speed, and currently stands at less than 15 cents – less than 1% of its maximum worth.
At the same time, the $TRUMP token achieved a maximum of over forty-five dollars and currently exchanges for $5.79.
Legal Allegations and Plaintiffs' Position
The investors claim that the currency's developers planned the scheme conscious that the digital currency's value would decline sharply.
Melania Trump herself is not included in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs stated they do not think she was responsible, but accused the digital currency firms of using her and other prominent figures as window dressing for their criminal operations.
Exchange Platform Role
According to recently submitted legal documents, claimants accuse leaders of the Meteora digital asset exchange, where $MELANIA was initially traded, of creating a plan that permitted them to secretly buy large quantities of the cryptocurrency.
Their accomplices then promptly liquidated these virtual tokens, earning significant gains while leading to the price to plummet, per documents filed in New York federal court.
Wider Proceedings
The allegations concerning $MELANIA have been included in court cases involving multiple additional virtual tokens, which started in the month of April.
Trump-associated entities has according to reports generated in excess of a billion dollars in pre-tax profits from multiple blockchain-associated products and companies over the last year.
