Insider Traders Rake in Nearly $100 Million from Strategic Purchases of MELANIA Coin Before Launch

A small group of traders made $99.6 million by purchasing the meme coin MELANIA before Melania Trump announced its launch. This was reported by the Financial Times (FT).

The former First Lady of the United States introduced the token on social media just hours ahead of her husband Donald Trump’s inauguration.

A mere two and a half minutes before Melania Trump’s post on Truth Social, around twenty wallets purchased MELANIA for a total of $2.6 million. Following this price spike, the traders swiftly sold off their coins, with 81% of their holdings liquidated within the first 12 hours.

One wallet invested $681,000 in the meme coin just 64 seconds before the project was announced. In just one day, that account generated $39 million, offloading most of its assets. Further sales over the next three days resulted in an additional $4.4 million profit.

The first wallet to acquire tokens ahead of the launch spent $40,000 on MELANIA just 141 seconds before the post went live. This account subsequently sold 86% of its coins within two hours, realizing a profit of $2.5 million.

FT confirmed the findings of experts from Bubblemaps, noting that this wallet was funded by an account previously used in projects associated with Hayden Davis. The entrepreneur claimed to be involved in the MELANIA launch. He also served as the CEO of Kelsier, the company behind the meme coin LIBRA, which gained political attention when supported by Argentine President Javier Milei in February, ultimately leading to a political scandal.

As per the official MELANIA website, the sales of the meme token are handled by MKT World LLC, a Delaware-registered firm that the former First Lady has utilized for various ventures since 2021.

In an interview with YouTuber Steven Fin Deizen (Coffeezilla), Davis stated:

“The MELANIA team did not earn any money. We did not withdraw any liquidity. Zero.”

In April, Bubblemaps specialists uncovered that the developers of the meme coin had withdrawn $30 million from the community fund and sold tokens from that amount.

Two days before the inauguration, Donald Trump introduced his own official coin, TRUMP. This asset was backed by a team unrelated to MELANIA. The first sale of TRUMP occurred just 42 seconds after the politician’s post about the token launch went up on Truth Social.

According to FT estimates, the organizations behind the coin earned at least $350 million. Trump assured in an interview with NBC News that he does not profit from the meme coin in any way.

At the time of writing, MELANIA is trading nearly 98% below its all-time high of $13.05, recorded shortly after the official launch.

Similarly, the prices for TRUMP depict a comparable trend, as it is currently valued at 85% less than its all-time high (ATH) of $73.43.

Recall that in April, the TRUMP coin’s value surged following the announcement of a gala dinner with Trump for major holders of the meme coin. This announcement prompted a 60% increase in price within 24 hours, according to reports.