Michaela Alvez
Incoming First Lady Melania Trump has launched her own MELANIA meme coin shortly after a significant drop in the value of her husband’s TRUMP token, which lost over 40% after peaking at a $15 billion valuation.
Mrs. Trump unveiled her self-titled meme coin in a post on X, which was subsequently shared by her husband, President-elect Donald Trump.
Data from DEXScreener reveals that more than 45,000 wallets have purchased the MELANIA token, which has reached a market capitalization of $6.14 billion since its debut.
The President-elect’s meme token was trading at approximately $72 on Sunday but plummeted to under $39 by the evening, according to CoinGecko data. This sharp decline resulted in a $6 billion loss in market value after it briefly reached a peak of around $14.5 billion earlier in the day.
The website for the MELANIA token, shared by Mrs. Trump, states that the meme coin was created to foster “support” and “engagement,” emphasizing that it is “not intended” as an investment opportunity.
“Melania memes are digital collectibles intended to function as an expression of support for and engagement with the values embodied by the symbol MELANIA. And the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type,” the website wrote.
The site outlined the token’s distribution, stating that 35% of the tokens were allocated to the project’s team, with 20% each designated for the treasury and the community. Additionally, 15% was made available to the public, and 10% was reserved for liquidity purposes.
$MELANIA: Legit or Grift?
Some have speculated that the incoming First Lady’s token might have been launched as a quick money-making scheme, pointing to the rapid creation of its website, which contrasts with the weeks of planning that went into the launch of the Trump coin.
Blockchain engineer Cygaar raised concerns that MELANIA could be a “grift,” noting the site’s subpar design and the absence of proper security features.
In a post on X, Unusual_whales, a market analytics tracker, pointed out that the website was launched on January 18, making it just a day old at the time of the post.
Blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps shared in a January 19 post on X that nearly 90% of the token’s supply is held in one wallet, which contradicts the distribution figures presented on the website.
Blockchain experts have proposed that the official Trump and Melania meme coins are distinct projects, each launched by separate teams without any coordination between them.
In contrast, Conor Grogan, a Coinbase executive, posted on X that while it is “unlikely” the MELANIA token is a rug pull, it may have been launched by a less organized team compared to the one responsible for the TRUMP token.
“My guess is that this token was handled by a different team than TRUMP’s,” Grogan wrote. “That one looks like professional market makers, this one honestly looks like college kids.”
Additionally, Grogan noted that the wallet used to create Mrs. Trump’s token had been active on the meme coin launchpad Pump.fun and was not a multi-signature wallet.
“Bring Gensler Back ASAP”
The launch also sparked strong criticism within the crypto community, with some even expressing a desire for the return of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler.
Some members of the crypto community have voiced feelings of being “rugged” by President-elect Trump. “He was protecting us this whole time,” Crypto influencer Crypto Bitlord commented, referring to Gensler. “Now, the first day that he’s gone, Donald Trump has literally rugged us,” he added.
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Michaela has no crypto positions and does not hold any crypto assets. This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The Shib Magazine and The Shib Daily are the official media and publications of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency project. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
