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The architects responsible for a cryptocurrency introduced by First Lady of the United States Melania Trump have been charged in legal documents of planning a pump-and-dump scheme.

Initial Launch and Price Surge

The $MELANIA coins were issued for just a few cents each on the 19th of January, one day preceding Donald Trump took office.

Together with the $MELANIA coin, Trump himself released his personal token just ahead of the presidential inauguration.

Shortly after launch, the value of the $MELANIA coin soared to over $13 per token.

Rapid Decline in Value

Nevertheless, the value then collapsed with similar speed, and is now approximately a dime – under one percent of its maximum worth.

In parallel, the $TRUMP cryptocurrency hit a high of $45.47 and now trades for under six dollars.

Legal Allegations and Plaintiffs' Position

The plaintiffs assert that the token's architects organized the operation knowing that the cryptocurrency's price would crash.

The First Lady personally is not named in the legal action. The plaintiffs stated they do not consider she was at fault, but alleged the crypto companies of using her and other familiar faces as window dressing for their fraudulent schemes.

Exchange Platform Role

In newly filed federal filings, claimants allege executives of the Meteora cryptocurrency exchange, where the First Lady's token was originally listed, of creating a plan that enabled them to discreetly acquire large quantities of the digital token.

Associated individuals then quickly resold these cryptocurrencies, earning significant gains while triggering the value to crash, per papers submitted in federal court in Manhattan.

Wider Proceedings

The charges concerning $MELANIA have been included in court cases regarding several other virtual tokens, which commenced in April.

The Trump family has reportedly earned in excess of a billion dollars in pre-tax gains from several digital currency-linked ventures and firms over the previous twelve months.