A blockchain analytics firm revealed that over $30 million worth of Official Melania (CRYPTO: MELANIA) meme coins were quietly sold, raising questions about the transparency of the project team and Hayden Davis.
What Happened: According to blockchain analytics firm, Bubblemaps, the Solana-based (CRYPTO: SOL) tokens were moved from community funds, with no explanation from the project team or Davis, who acknowledged having co-created the MELANIA meme coin.
A total of 50 million MELANIA tokens were sent to the wallet “Cq2Tj6” before being distributed to multiple other addresses. More than $3 million was transferred to centralized exchanges, two new positions worth $6 million each were established, and $500,000 has already been liquidated.
The analytics firm also pointed out that this lack of transparency comes on the heels of a $2 million sell-off reported last week, which used the same one-sided liquidity strategy Davis employed during the LIBRA token crash in February. Davis, who has acknowledged launching both MELANIA and LIBRA, has been associated with a recurring pattern of pump-and-dump meme coin schemes.
“No one from the MELANIA team has addressed this. Not the movements. Not the selling,” reported Decrypt citing Bubblemaps.
The White House did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
Bubblemaps also stated last month on X that it discovered that Hayden Davis, had been “secretly selling $MELANIA tokens using single-sided liquidity.”
Why It Matters: The MELANIA meme coin, linked to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, has seen a significant decline in value. In March the coin’s value had fallen to $367 million from over $13 billion in just two months. The coin’s continued decline contrasts with the broader meme coin market’s recovery during that period.
Similarly, the Official Trump (CRYPTO: TRUMP) meme coin, associated with President Donald Trump, has also seen a significant drop in value. The coin’s market cap shrank from $14.5 billion to $2.3 billion, reflecting broader challenges for Trump-branded cryptocurrencies amid a volatile meme coin market.
Dominika Stobiecka, co-founder of Toku, a token compliance platform, had earlier told Decrypt that such insider trading in cryptocurrencies is not just unethical, it transforms the market into a “rigged game” in which “retail investors lose confidence, participation drops, and the entire system suffers.”
MELANIA is currently trading at $0.5150, down over 90% from its launch-day high. In comparison, TRUMP is priced at $7.65, reflecting more than an 85% drop from its peak, according to data from Benzinga Pro
Image via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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