A group of crypto traders reportedly made nearly $100 million in profits on the newly launched Melania Trump token, $MELANIA. Investigations revealed suspicious trading occurred just minutes before the public announcement. The token’s rapid rise in value led to significant profits within hours, raising concerns about manipulation in the unregulated crypto market. Links to specific individuals involved have surfaced, sparking further controversy.
In an intriguing turn of events within the cryptocurrency market, a group of savvy traders amassed close to $100 million in profits from the recent launch of Melania Trump’s new digital token, $MELANIA. As disclosed by the Financial Times, this surge in profit appears to have been facilitated by several large trades made just moments before Trump publicly announced the coin’s release.
The transactions took place merely two and a half minutes ahead of the token’s unveiling on January 19, an occasion that coincided with her husband’s presidential inauguration, making the token’s introduction particularly prominent. Prior to the official reveal on Truth Social, around two dozen digital wallets engaged in sizeable purchases, collectively netting nearly $99.6 million as the value of the token quickly ascended post-announcement.
Investors bought around $2.6 million worth of tokens just before the official launch. A whopping 81% of these tokens were sold within the first 12 hours, a typical tactic employed by what are known as “snipers” in the crypto world — traders who exploit early information for exponential returns. This practice raises serious questions about the fairness and transparency of the crypto marketplace.
Even though blockchain records provide an open ledger of trading activity, the anonymity of crypto wallets makes it hard to trace the individuals behind these lucrative transactions. $MELANIA, classified as a memecoin, offers high-risk investments without solid underpinning or regulatory oversight. Such a lack of regulation leaves everyday investors vulnerable to market manipulation.
Among the notable transactions was one wallet that invested $681,000 in $MELANIA an astonishing 64 seconds prior to the project’s public announcement. Within just 24 hours, the wallet owner enjoyed a profit of $39 million, with an additional $4.4 million raked in over the next three days. The most striking stats include a total of 16.7 million out of 200 million available tokens being sold by pre-launch traders, highlighting an uneven playing field for retail investors.
It’s interesting to note there were no similar pre-launch purchasing behaviours with the $TRUMP token — another coin associated with the Trump family. In fact, purchases for $TRUMP only began after its public launch, a stark contrast that raises eyebrows regarding the activities surrounding $MELANIA.
Further complicating the situation, the investigation connected an early wallet to Hayden Davis, a Texas entrepreneur with a controversial background in crypto. While Davis denied any wrongdoing related to the Melania Trump token, insisting there was nothing improper about his actions, his involvement adds another layer of suspicion to the proceedings.
Entities linked to $MELANIA were reported to have secured around $64.7 million from primary sales and transaction fees, a substantial earning independent from those earlier purchases. The coin is managed by MKT World LLC, a Delaware-based company that has ties to Melania Trump since 2021, but specifics on their role and how profits are distributed remain unclear.
As of now, both the former First Lady and Davis have not responded to inquiries for comments, leaving many questions about transparency in cryptocurrency investments hanging in the air.
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