Melania Trump's Digital Currency Architects Hit with Pump-and-Dump Scam Lawsuit
The designers behind a virtual coin introduced by US First Lady Melania Trump are now charged in federal papers of planning a market manipulation plot.
Coin Release and Price Surge
The $MELANIA tokens were released for under a dollar each on January 19, just prior to Donald Trump took office.
In addition to the $MELANIA coin, Trump himself launched his $TRUMP coin just ahead of the inauguration ceremony.
Within hours, the market value of the $MELANIA cryptocurrency soared to over $13 per coin.
Rapid Decline in Price
Yet, the price plummeted with similar speed, and currently stands at approximately a dime – under 1% of its peak price.
At the same time, the $TRUMP coin reached a peak of nearly forty-six dollars and currently exchanges for approximately five seventy-nine.
Legal Allegations and Plaintiffs' Position
The claimants assert that the coin's creators organized the maneuver knowing that the digital currency's value would decline sharply.
Melania Trump herself is not mentioned in the court case. Investors indicated they do not think she was at fault, but charged the crypto companies of exploiting her and other familiar faces as a facade for their illegal activities.
Exchange Platform Role
According to recently submitted court papers, claimants charge officials of the Meteora cryptocurrency exchange, where the First Lady's token was initially traded, of establishing a operation that permitted them to secretly buy large quantities of the cryptocurrency.
Their partners then quickly resold these virtual tokens, earning significant gains while causing the value to crash, according to records entered in Manhattan federal court.
Broader Context
The allegations about the First Lady's coin have been added to judicial actions concerning multiple additional virtual tokens, which started in the month of April.
The Trump organization has according to reports secured in excess of a billion dollars in pre-tax profits from multiple cryptocurrency-related ventures and firms over the past 12 months.
