PANews reported on May 6th that according to the Financial Times, the MELANIA token launched by Melania Trump appeared to have potential insider trading on its first day of listing. Within three minutes of Trump's announcement on January 19th, over 20 digital wallets purchased tokens worth $2.6 million, and then sold 81% of their holdings within 12 hours, profiting nearly $100 million. These wallets were linked to projects associated with Texas crypto entrepreneur Hayden Davis, though Davis denied involvement to independent investigative reporters. According to reports, the MELANIA token's organizers operated through MKT World LLC in Delaware, extracting $64.7 million in primary sales and fees, not including the $99.6 million accumulated by early traders. Since 2021, Melania Trump has conducted multiple businesses through MKT World, but her specific role and profit-sharing structure remain unclear. Melania has not publicly commented on the token's market activities or governance.
The media report noted that similar wallet patterns were seen in the LIBRA scandal, indicating that strategies of using celebrity names for crypto speculation are common. Despite regulatory gaps and on-chain anonymity, this incident highlights the increasing complexity of political brands in digital assets and the challenges faced by retail participants in the rapidly evolving crypto market.
