🔗 Share this article Melania Trump's Meme Coin Creators Facing Pump-and-Dump Scam Legal Action The architects behind a digital token introduced by US First Lady Melania Trump are now charged in legal documents of planning a market manipulation plot. Initial Launch and Value Spike The $MELANIA coins were made available for under a dollar each on the 19th of January, the day before former President Trump was inaugurated. Together with the Melania cryptocurrency, Donald Trump introduced his $TRUMP coin a few hours before the swearing-in event. Shortly after launch, the market value of the $MELANIA token skyrocketed to over $13 per unit. Rapid Decline in Price However, the market price then collapsed with similar speed, and currently stands at less than 15 cents – less than one percent of its highest value. In parallel, the $TRUMP cryptocurrency reached a peak of nearly forty-six dollars and currently exchanges for approximately five seventy-nine. Legal Allegations and Investors' Arguments The investors claim that the token's architects organized the maneuver aware that the digital currency's value would decline sharply. Melania Trump personally is not named in the legal action. The plaintiffs stated they do not consider she was responsible, but alleged the digital currency firms of leveraging her and other familiar faces as window dressing for their criminal operations. Exchange Platform Involvement According to recently submitted court papers, investors allege executives of the Meteora cryptocurrency exchange, where the First Lady's token was first exchanged, of establishing a operation that enabled them to secretly buy substantial volumes of the digital token. Associated individuals then quickly resold these digital currencies, pocketing substantial profits while triggering the market to collapse, as stated in records entered in federal court in Manhattan. Broader Context The charges about the Melania token have been added to court cases concerning multiple additional digital currencies, which started in April. Trump-associated entities has according to reports generated over one billion dollars in pre-tax gains from multiple blockchain-associated products and companies over the past 12 months.