Introduction
First Lady Melania Trump’s official Solana meme coin, MELANIA, surged nearly 7% after she promoted an AI-generated video from the token’s official account, briefly pushing the price to $0.191. Despite this temporary boost, the token remains a staggering 99% below its January peak of $13.05, while controversy continues to swirl around the project’s team allegedly extracting millions from community funds without explanation.
Key Points
- Token price surged 7% after Melania Trump shared AI-generated video to her 3.8 million followers
- $30 million worth of MELANIA tokens were reportedly taken from community funds and sold by team wallets
- Project shares launch strategist with controversial LIBRA token promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei
The Price Pump and Social Media Influence
The MELANIA token experienced a significant price movement following First Lady Melania Trump’s social media activity, where she shared an apparently AI-generated video from the token’s official X account to her 3.8 million followers. Her post, simply stating “Into the future” while tagging the meme token profile, triggered an immediate market reaction that saw the token jump to a daily high of $0.191 before settling at $0.182—representing a 7% increase over 24 hours and more than 12% gain for the week.
This social media endorsement marked the first activity from the MELANIA token project since June, when it last communicated with followers about potential token movements related to liquidity agreements. The dramatic price response highlights the continued influence of celebrity and political figures in the volatile cryptocurrency market, particularly within the meme coin sector where social media sentiment often drives short-term price action more than fundamental value.
A History of Controversy and Community Fund Extraction
Behind the recent price surge lies a troubling history of alleged financial misconduct. According to blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps, approximately $30 million worth of MELANIA tokens were taken from community funds and quietly sold on the market by the project team in April. This follows earlier reports of around $2 million being siphoned off using the single-sided liquidity tactic, bringing the total extracted from community pools to at least $40 million when including additional $8 million sales documented by Bubblemaps.
The analytics firm has publicly criticized the project’s silence on these substantial token sales, posting on X: “Woooo Melania Trump won’t address the $10M of community tokens sold by team wallets. Just post an AI video after 10 months of silence? Cool, cool, cool.” Despite these allegations and the significant movement of tokens connected to the project team, no member has publicly addressed the sales or provided transparency about the fund movements.
The controversy extends beyond just the MELANIA token’s operations. The project shares the same launch strategist, Hayden Davis, who worked on the controversial LIBRA token promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei. This connection raises questions about the operational patterns and ethical standards across politically-linked cryptocurrency projects.
The Broader Political Meme Coin Landscape
The MELANIA token famously launched just two days after President Donald Trump’s official TRUMP meme coin debuted in January, creating a political cryptocurrency pairing that captured significant market attention. Both tokens experienced dramatic price surges followed by catastrophic collapses, with MELANIA peaking above $13 in January before crashing to less than $2 by month’s end, while TRUMP reached above $73 before plummeting to its current price of $7.72—representing nearly a 90% drop from its peak.
The projects share more than just political branding and volatile trading patterns. Both have operated with market maker Wintermute, with the MELANIA project announcing liquidity providing agreements with the firm in June. However, the relationship between political endorsement, market making arrangements, and community fund management remains opaque, leaving investors to navigate a landscape where celebrity influence can trigger price movements while fundamental transparency remains elusive.
As political figures continue to engage with cryptocurrency projects, the MELANIA token case illustrates the complex interplay between social media influence, market manipulation concerns, and the need for greater accountability in the rapidly evolving digital asset space. The token’s current trading price of $0.182, despite the recent boost from Melania Trump’s endorsement, serves as a stark reminder of how far these assets can fall from their peaks and the risks inherent in politically-branded cryptocurrency investments.
📎 Related coverage from: decrypt.co
