First Lady's Digital Currency Creators Facing Pump-and-Dump Scam Lawsuit
The developers responsible for a digital token introduced by US First Lady Melania Trump are now charged in federal papers of planning a pump-and-dump scheme.
Coin Release and Value Spike
The $MELANIA tokens were issued for under a dollar each on January 19th, just prior to former President Trump was inaugurated.
Together with the Melania cryptocurrency, Trump himself launched his personal token a few hours before the inauguration ceremony.
Shortly after launch, the value of the $MELANIA token surged to $13.73 per unit.
Rapid Decline in Price
Nevertheless, the market price plummeted just as rapidly, and is now approximately a dime – below a fraction of its highest value.
In parallel, the $TRUMP token achieved a maximum of $45.47 and presently sells for under six dollars.
Legal Allegations and Plaintiffs' Position
The plaintiffs claim that the currency's developers planned the maneuver aware that the token's worth would crash.
Mrs. Trump herself is not mentioned in the lawsuit. Investors indicated they do not consider she was responsible, but alleged the digital currency firms of exploiting her and other well-known personalities as window dressing for their criminal operations.
Exchange Platform Role
According to recently submitted court papers, plaintiffs accuse officials of the Meteora cryptocurrency exchange, where $MELANIA was first exchanged, of setting up a plan that permitted them to indirectly purchase large quantities of the virtual coin.
Their partners then promptly liquidated these virtual tokens, pocketing substantial profits while causing the price to plummet, per papers submitted in Manhattan federal court.
Wider Proceedings
The charges regarding the First Lady's coin have been incorporated into court cases concerning multiple additional digital currencies, which started in spring.
The Trump organization has according to reports earned more than one billion dollars in pre-tax earnings from multiple digital currency-linked products and companies over the last year.
