The Financial Times revealed how insiders made $99.6 million with Melania Memecoin. According to the report, insiders purchased the token minutes before the official launch and earned a large amount of cash in the transaction.
The report identifies 24 addresses where Melania’s Trump-affiliated tokens purchased 16.77 million Melania in 2.5 minutes, before that, she posted it on a true social account. Melania shared details about the token late January 19th, causing a trading frenzy in the crypto market as Melania prices rose significantly.
Interestingly, most addresses quickly sold their tokens after their announcement, taking advantage of the momentum to earn massive profits. The Financial Times report noted that 81% of sales occurred within 12 hours of the announcement.
In one case, the address spent $681,000 on Memecoin just 64 seconds before its announcement. By the time it was finished 12 hours after its release, the address had made a profit of $39 million by selling most of the tokens it purchased. The same address added $4.4 million by selling the remaining holdings within three days.
The report raised questions about insider trading and possible crimes. However, recent guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows that memokines are collectibles rather than securities, so rules regarding insider trading and promoter disclosure may not apply.
Melania team still throws out memo coins
Meanwhile, this report will only be added to existing controversies around Melania Memocoin. The tokens currently trading at $0.3184 have been steadily declining due to large-scale sales by teams for over a month.
Since March 16, the Melania team has moved more than 41.675 million Melania tokens from community and liquidity addresses, selling them on the exchange, adding unilateral liquidity. Through the sale, they made 170,000 Sol, worth $23.063 million, converting most SOL into USDC or withdrawing funds.
Despite consistent sales that has been shining in the spotlight by many in the Crypto community, there was no official communication from projects or partners. MKT World LLC, a Delaware-based company that is responsible for marketing the project on its official website, is also quiet about its role.
Tokens continue to plummet, falling 44% over the last 30 days and trading at 96% below the peak, but insiders and the team behind the project are still making money. So far, the team has made more than $64.7 million in profits from commissions and sales.
The Trump family’s memecoin raises ethical concerns
Meanwhile, Memocoin, who partnered with President Trump, doesn’t have the same insider trading issues as Melania, probably because another team started it. According to the report, there were no pre-announced purchases for Trump, and the original address bought it 42 seconds after the announcement about the True Society.
Yet, ethical concerns about how the family of the US president benefited from Memocoin at the expense of others remain a major topic in the crypto and political community. The Financial Times reported that the entity behind Trump has made major sales with at least $350 million in fees since its launch.
At the same time, Trump is down 85.7% from the peak price and is currently trading at $10.59. Interestingly, the token recently increased in value after it recently announced an exclusive dinner with the president of the top 220 owners.
But it has lost most of its profits from its announcement, leaving more people with losses. One of the whales who sold tokens before dinner was announced and missed the $3.8 million potential $3.8 million bought the token a few days ago. However, he sold the token again, resulting in a loss of $900,000.
