Melania Meme Coin Team Sells $1.5M in Tokens, Sparking Downside Pressure Amid 21% Price Pump

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Hassan Shittu

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Hassan Shittu

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Hassan, a Cryptonews.com journalist with 6+ years of experience in Web3 journalism, brings deep knowledge across Crypto, Web3 Gaming, NFTs, and Play-to-Earn sectors. His work has appeared in...

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April 27, 2025

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The Melania (MELANIA) meme coin has once again sparked concern as blockchain analysts uncovered that the team behind the token has sold more than $1.5 million worth of MELANIA over the past three days.

The heavy selling, which follows a similar pattern observed over the past month, raises questions about insider rug-pulling and the future trajectory of the token.

According to Lookonchain, the Melania team not only manipulated liquidity but also executed a calculated dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategy to sell substantial amounts of tokens in small tranches, preventing sharp price crashes but maintaining consistent sell pressure.

In the latest sales, the team sold approximately $632,000 worth of MELANIA two days ago, followed by another $938,000 today, bringing the total to over $1.5 million.

Blockchain data from Solscan reveals that the team dispersed sales across multiple wallets, including addresses such as 38z***Tv and 9sV***RG.

This strategic dumping occurred even as MELANIA’s price staged a 21% recovery in the past week.

Despite the price pump, MELANIA remains around 96% below its all-time high of $13.70, which was briefly reached on January 20, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s inauguration date.

Yet the Melania team’s sell-offs are not isolated incidents. On April 20, blockchain analyst EmberCN reported that the team had already sold 23.45 million MELANIA tokens worth roughly $14.75 million over the prior month.

They executed these sales through both centralized exchanges and liquidity manipulation on decentralized platforms, such as Meteora.

On April 19 alone, the team sold 2.95 million tokens for 9,009 SOL, valued at approximately $1.2 million. Such aggressive selling has impacted market confidence.

Deepening Sell-offs and Connections to Previous Scandals

The persistent selling has exacerbated fears of a potential rug pull, a concern that has surrounded the Melania meme coin almost since its inception.

Back in February, blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps uncovered on-chain evidence linking the Melania project to the controversial Libra (LIBRA) token.

Analysts claimed that the same wallet, 0xcEA, was involved in both projects, suggesting a coordinated insider effort to manipulate token launches for massive profits.

According to Bubblemaps, wallet 0xcEA heavily sniped MELANIA’s launch on January 19, turning a quick $2.4 million profit, which was laundered through multiple Solana wallets into Avalanche.

Weeks later, the same wallet funded the launch of the LIBRA token, which similarly collapsed shortly after insiders reportedly cashed out $107 million.

The collapse of the LIBRA token was swift and devastating. Within four hours of launch, the token’s value plummeted by 94%. Similar patterns have plagued MELANIA.

After reaching an astonishing $13 billion market cap at its peak, MELANIA’s value plummeted by 99%, wiping out most of its early investors.

These findings suggest a pattern of behavior in which insiders create hype around politically themed meme coins, aggressively pump prices, and then rapidly sell off their holdings, leaving retail investors with substantial losses.

Meme Coin Sector Faces Headwinds Amid Market Shifts

The broader meme coin market itself is facing mounting pressures. Although a report on April 25 indicates that the market is recovering, attaining back its $60 billion market cap.

However, the launch and subsequent underperformance of high-profile tokens like TRUMP and MELANIA may have punctured the meme coin bubble.

The waning enthusiasm suggests that investors may be shifting their focus to newer narratives or becoming increasingly cautious about the risks associated with politically themed meme projects.

The struggles are not isolated to MELANIA alone. The TRUMP token, another prominent political meme project, has also seen a dramatic decline, from a peak price of $75.35 to just $8.14 within three months.

Although TRUMP has recently shown signs of recovery due to a fresh unlocking event releasing 40 million tokens worth over $300 million and the recent announcement of a private dinner with President Donald Trump to be attended by top holders.

Despite general market stability, the Melania token continues to underperform. Within the last 24 hours, MELANIA’s price fell an additional 5%, underperforming other meme coins.