US First Lady Melania Trump’s crypto architects accused of fraud

The cryptocurrency $MELANIA, launched by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump earlier this year, has become the focus of a court case after investors accused its designers of orchestrating a scheme that caused the tokens value to crash shortly after its release. According to court filings submitted on Tuesday, October 21, in the Southern District of New York, executives from the Meteora cryptocurrency exchange are alleged to have structured the launch in a way that allowed them and their associates to buy up large amounts of $MELANIA coins, artificially drive up the price, and then sell them off for huge profits before the value collapsed. The $MELANIA coin, which debuted on January 19, one day before Donald Trumps inauguration, was initially priced at just a few cents per token. Within hours, its price skyrocketed to $13.73, but soon after, it crashed to about $0.10, losing over 99% of its peak value. Investors now claim this was no accident but rather a deliberate pump-and-dump operation by those behind Meteora, who allegedly exploited Melania Trumps name to lend credibility to the cryptocurrency. The allegations have been added to an ongoing lawsuit filed in April concerning several other cryptocurrencies handled by the same platform. In the filing, the plaintiffs stated that they do not consider Melania Trump personally responsible, but accused Meteora and its affiliates of using her and other well-known figures as window dressing to promote fraudulent schemes. Meteora has not yet responded to requests for comment, according to AFP. A Financial Times investigation published last week reported that the Trump family has collectively earned over $1 billion in pre-tax profits from cryptocurrency-related ventures and products over the past year. Besides $MELANIA, former President Donald Trump also launched a coin named $TRUMP on the same day, while his sons company, World Liberty Financial, has begun selling its own cryptocurrency, WLFI, valued at $550 million in total.The post US First Lady Melania Trumps crypto architects accused of fraud appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.