🔗 Share this article Melania Trump's Meme Coin Creators Hit with Pump-and-Dump Scam Legal Action The developers responsible for a digital token launched by First Lady of the United States Melania Trump have been alleged in legal documents of executing a market manipulation plot. Initial Launch and Value Spike The $MELANIA cryptocurrency were released for just a few cents each on January 19, the day before former President Trump took office. Together with the First Lady's token, Donald Trump launched his personal token shortly prior to the swearing-in event. Within hours, the price of the $MELANIA coin skyrocketed to $13.73 per coin. Rapid Decline in Price Yet, the price then collapsed almost as quickly, and is now only about 10 cents – below 1% of its maximum worth. Meanwhile, the $TRUMP token reached a peak of nearly forty-six dollars and now trades for under six dollars. Legal Allegations and Investors' Arguments The plaintiffs assert that the coin's creators organized the operation conscious that the token's worth would crash. The First Lady personally is not included in the court case. Investors indicated they do not consider she was culpable, but alleged the crypto companies of using her and other prominent figures as window dressing for their fraudulent schemes. Trading Venue Involvement According to recently submitted federal filings, plaintiffs allege leaders of the Meteora trading platform, where the First Lady's token was originally listed, of setting up a operation that enabled them to secretly buy large quantities of the cryptocurrency. Their accomplices then rapidly offloaded these virtual tokens, earning significant gains while triggering the value to crash, according to records entered in New York federal court. Wider Proceedings The charges about the Melania token have been added to judicial actions regarding several other virtual tokens, which started in the month of April. The Trump organization has reportedly generated in excess of $1 billion in pre-tax earnings from multiple blockchain-associated products and companies over the previous twelve months.