The US first lady introduced the token on social media hours before her husband Donald Trump's inauguration.
Two and a half minutes before Melania Trump's post was published on the Truth Social platform, two dozen wallets bought MELANIA for $2.6 million. Amid the sharp rise in price, traders quickly sold the coins, with 81% of their assets realized within the first 12 hours.
One wallet spent $681,000 on the meme coin 64 seconds before the project's existence was announced. This account made $39 million in 24 hours, shedding most of its assets. Sales over the next three days brought it another $4.4 million.
The first wallet to buy tokens ahead of the launch purchased $40,000 worth of MELANIA 141 seconds before the post went live. The account then sold 86% of the coins within two hours, earning $2.5 million
The FT confirmed the findings of Bubblemaps experts that the wallet was funded from an account used previously in Hayden Davis' projects. The entrepreneur claimed to have been involved in the launch of MELANIA. He was also listed as the CEO of Kelsier, the company behind the LIBRA meme coin. In February, the coin was promoted by Argentine President Javier Milay, which eventually led to a political scandal.
According to MELANIA's official website, the meme token is being sold by MKT World LLC. The Delaware-registered firm has been used by the first lady for various businesses since 2021.
Davis in an interview with youtuber Stephen Findeisen (Coffeezilla) said:
"The MELANIA team didn't make any money. We didn't withdraw any liquidity. Zero."
In April, Bubblemaps discovered that the meme coin's developers had withdrawn from the community fund and sold $30 million worth of tokens.
Two days before the inauguration, TRUMP's own official coin was presented by Donald Trump. Behind the asset is a team that has nothing to do with MELANIA. The first sale of TRUMP took place 42 seconds after the politician published a post on Truth Social about the token's launch.
The FT estimates that the organizations behind the coin made at least $350 million. Trump assured in an interview with NBC News that he does not profit from the meme-coin.
As of this writing, MELANIA traded nearly 98% below the all-time high of $13.05 recorded shortly after its official launch.
TRUMP quotes have shown a similar trajectory. The coin is valued 85% lower than ATH at $73.43.
