MELANIA Memecoin Collapses Months After Launch as Fraud Lawsuit Hits Promoters
The pro-Trump–themed MELANIA memecoin has cratered to a fraction of its January launch price, wiping out most of its early momentum and triggering a class-action lawsuit that accuses the project’s promoters of running a pump-and-dump scheme.
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Launched on January 19, 2025, the Solana-based token surged more than 12,000% in its first day, briefly becoming one of the most talked-about political-themed coins online. At its peak, MELANIA traded around $13.73, according to multiple crypto-market trackers.
But the momentum didn’t last. Within weeks, the token began a steep slide, shedding the vast majority of its value and leaving small investors stuck with heavy losses. MELANIA now trades for pennies, echoing the volatility seen with other political and celebrity-backed coins.
The coin’s collapse is now at the center of a class-action lawsuit filed in federal court, accusing the architects of a related crypto protocol of artificially inflating the token’s value before cashing out. The suit claims promoters used Melania Trump’s name and image to give the project legitimacy — though she is not named as a defendant.
Legal filings argue that the former First Lady’s branding served as “window-dressing” for a scheme that left retail buyers holding worthless tokens while insiders profited.
Supporters of the coin have dismissed the lawsuit as an attack on highly speculative meme-assets, pointing to similar collapses across the crowded political crypto market. But for investors who bought in near the top, the fallout has been severe.
The case adds to growing scrutiny over celebrity-adjacent crypto projects and comes as regulators and courts weigh how to police high-volatility tokens marketed through political fandom.