First Lady's Digital Currency Creators Hit with Market Manipulation Scam Legal Action
The developers behind a cryptocurrency released by US First Lady Melania Trump are now charged in federal papers of executing a pump-and-dump scheme.
Initial Launch and Price Surge
The $MELANIA tokens were issued for a minimal price each on January 19th, one day preceding former President Trump was inaugurated.
Alongside the First Lady's token, the former president launched his personal token a few hours before the presidential inauguration.
Within hours, the market value of the $MELANIA coin skyrocketed to nearly $14 per token.
Sudden Collapse in Price
However, the value then collapsed with similar speed, and presently trades for only about 10 cents – under one percent of its highest value.
At the same time, the $TRUMP token hit a high of $45.47 and currently exchanges for $5.79.
Court Claims and Investors' Arguments
The investors allege that the token's architects organized the maneuver aware that the digital currency's value would crash.
Melania Trump herself is not included in the court case. Claimants indicated they do not consider she was culpable, but charged the crypto companies of leveraging her and other well-known personalities as window dressing for their criminal operations.
Exchange Platform Role
According to recently submitted legal documents, claimants charge leaders of the Meteora cryptocurrency exchange, where Melania's coin was first exchanged, of setting up a operation that permitted them to secretly buy significant amounts of the virtual coin.
Their accomplices then promptly liquidated these virtual tokens, earning significant gains while leading to the price to plummet, as stated in records entered in Manhattan federal court.
Wider Proceedings
The charges regarding $MELANIA have been included in court cases regarding multiple additional virtual tokens, which started in the month of April.
The Trump family has reportedly generated over a billion dollars in pre-tax earnings from multiple cryptocurrency-related products and companies over the previous twelve months.
