Melania Meme Coin Team Dumps $1.5M Holdings—21% Rally Meets Sell Pressure

Meme coin euphoria hits turbulence as Melania Token insiders cash out during a 21% price surge. The team offloaded $1.5M worth of tokens, triggering immediate downside pressure—classic ’pump-and-dump’ optics that even crypto natives are side-eyeing.

Key details: The sell-off coincided with a liquidity crunch, exposing the fragile tokenomics behind influencer-backed assets. Retail traders now face the age-old crypto dilemma: chase the green candles or brace for the inevitable correction.

Silver lining? The dump occurred at 60% below ATH—either a warning sign or a dip-buying opportunity, depending on your risk tolerance (and skepticism toward celebrity crypto projects).

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.

7 小时前，又有 295 万枚 $MELANIA 被项目方以添加单边流动性的形式出售成 9,009 枚 SOL ($1.2M)。

过去 3 天里，$MELANIA 项目方继续从流动性跟社区地址转出 764.3 万枚 $MELANIA ($3.21M)，然后在 Meteora 上添加到 MELANIA/SOL 单边流动性，将 $MELANIA 在设定区间出售成 SOL。
其中 295 万枚… https://t.co/DCOMFOsGfz pic.twitter.com/zL2rIeTqOB

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.

@Bubblemaps has presented new on-chain evidence suggesting that the team behind Libra meme coin is responsible for launching Melania.#Bubblemaps #Librahttps://t.co/lV88r49B5P

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.

Meme coin mania surges as $BONK (@bonk_inu) leads with 35.5% weekly gains, pushing sector cap to $60.3B amid cat-themed rallies and political token hype.#MemeCoins #Cryptohttps://t.co/V8c1BKMNcu

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.