Melania Trump's Digital Currency Creators Hit with Pump-and-Dump Fraud Lawsuit
The developers behind a cryptocurrency introduced by First Lady of the United States Melania Trump are now accused in federal papers of executing a pump-and-dump scheme.
Initial Launch and Price Surge
The $MELANIA cryptocurrency were made available for under a dollar each on the 19th of January, the day before former President Trump took office.
Alongside the $MELANIA coin, the former president released his personal token just ahead of the presidential inauguration.
Shortly after launch, the price of the $MELANIA coin surged to $13.73 per coin.
Sudden Collapse in Price
Nevertheless, the value plummeted almost as quickly, and currently stands at less than 15 cents – under one percent of its maximum worth.
At the same time, the $TRUMP cryptocurrency achieved a maximum of nearly forty-six dollars and currently exchanges for under six dollars.
Legal Allegations and Plaintiffs' Position
The plaintiffs allege that the token's architects organized the maneuver aware that the cryptocurrency's price would crash.
Melania Trump herself is not mentioned in the lawsuit. Investors stated they do not believe 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 legal documents, investors accuse executives of the Meteora cryptocurrency exchange, where the First Lady's token was initially traded, of setting up a operation that allowed them to indirectly purchase large quantities of the virtual coin.
Associated individuals then promptly liquidated these digital currencies, earning significant gains while triggering the value to crash, according to records entered in New York federal court.
Wider Proceedings
The claims about the First Lady's coin have been added to court cases involving several other cryptocurrencies, which started in the month of April.
The Trump organization has reportedly secured over $1 billion in pre-tax gains from various digital currency-linked enterprises and organizations over the past 12 months.