First Lady's Digital Currency Creators Facing Market Manipulation Scam Lawsuit
The developers behind a virtual coin launched by First Lady of the United States Melania Trump have been charged in legal documents of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme.
Initial Launch and Price Surge
The $MELANIA coins were made available for under a dollar each on the 19th of January, just prior to Donald Trump was inaugurated.
Alongside the $MELANIA coin, Trump himself launched his own digital currency a few hours before the inauguration ceremony.
Shortly after launch, the price of the $MELANIA coin surged to over $13 per coin.
Sudden Collapse in Price
However, the value subsequently crashed with similar speed, and presently trades for only about 10 cents – under one percent of its peak price.
At the same time, the $TRUMP token hit a high of over forty-five dollars and now trades for under six dollars.
Court Claims and Investors' Arguments
The investors allege that the coin's creators executed the scheme knowing that the digital currency's value would crash.
The First Lady personally is not included in the legal action. Claimants stated they do not think she was responsible, but accused the crypto companies of exploiting her and other well-known personalities as a cover for their criminal operations.
Exchange Platform Involvement
According to recently submitted federal filings, plaintiffs accuse leaders of the Meteora cryptocurrency exchange, where Melania's coin was first exchanged, of setting up a scheme that enabled them to indirectly purchase substantial volumes of the virtual coin.
Associated individuals then rapidly offloaded these digital currencies, earning significant gains while causing the price to plummet, per papers submitted in Manhattan federal court.
Broader Context
The allegations about the First Lady's coin have been included in legal proceedings regarding multiple additional cryptocurrencies, which began in spring.
The Trump organization has allegedly earned over $1 billion in pre-tax gains from multiple blockchain-associated enterprises and organizations over the past 12 months.
