The Melania meme coin (MELANIA) once again raises concerns as blockchain analysts discovered that the team behind this coin has sold over $1.5 million worth of MELANIA in the past three days.
The sharp sell-offs, occurring in a similar pattern to what has been observed over the past month, raise questions about insider manipulation and the future trajectory of the token.
According to Lookonchain, the Melania team not only manipulates liquidity but also employs a calculated dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategy to sell large amounts of tokens in several smaller batches, preventing sharp price declines while maintaining continuous selling pressure.
In the latest sale, 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 shows that the team has dispersed sales into multiple wallets, including addresses like 38z***Tv and 9sV***RG.
This strategic sell-off occurs even as the price of MELANIA has recovered by 21% over the past week.
Despite the soaring prices, MELANIA remains approximately 96% lower than its all-time high of $13.70, achieved briefly on January 20, coinciding with the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
However, the Melania team's sell-off is not an isolated incident. On April 20, blockchain analyst EmberCN reported that the team sold 23.45 million MELANIA tokens worth approximately $14.75 million last month.
They carry out these transactions through both centralized exchanges and manipulate liquidity on decentralized platforms, such as Meteora.
On April 19 alone, the team sold 2.95 million tokens for 9,009 SOL, worth approximately $1.2 million. Such strong sell-offs have impacted market confidence.
Deeper sell-offs related to previous scandals.
The continuous sell-off has heightened concerns about the possibility of this coin being withdrawn from the market, a concern that has overshadowed the Melania meme coin since its inception.
In February, the blockchain analysis company Bubblemaps discovered evidence linking the Melania project to the controversial LIBRA token.
Analysts assert that the same wallet, 0xcEA, participated in both projects, indicating a coordinated effort internally to manipulate the token launch for massive profits.
According to Bubblemaps, wallet 0xcEA aggressively attacked the MELANIA launch on January 19, quickly realizing a profit of $2.4 million, which was washed through multiple Solana wallets on Avalanche.
Weeks later, the same wallet funded the launch of the LIBRA token, which also collapsed shortly after insiders allegedly withdrew $107 million.
The collapse of the LIBRA token occurred quickly and brutally. Just four hours after launch, the token's value plummeted by 94%. MELANIA faced a similar situation.
After reaching an astounding market capitalization of $13 billion at its peak, the value of MELANIA has dropped significantly by 99%, leaving most early investors with nothing.
These findings indicate a behavioral pattern where insiders create hype around politically-themed meme coins, pushing the prices up and then quickly selling off their holdings, leaving retail investors with substantial losses.
The meme currency sector faces headwinds amid changing market conditions.
The broader meme coin market itself is facing increasing pressure. Although the report on April 25 indicates that the market is recovering, regaining a market capitalization of $60 billion.
However, the launch and subsequent poor performance of well-known tokens like TRUMP and MELANIA may have burst the meme coin bubble.
The waning enthusiasm suggests that investors may be shifting their focus to newer stories or becoming increasingly cautious about the risks associated with politically-themed meme projects.
The struggles are not limited to MELANIA. The TRUMP token, another prominent political meme project, has also seen a significant decline, from a peak price of $75.35 down to just $8.14 within three months.
Although TRUMP has recently shown signs of recovery thanks to a new unlocking event releasing 40 million tokens worth over $300 million and a recent announcement of a private dinner with President Donald Trump attended by the largest token holders.
Although the market is generally stable, the Melania token continues to perform poorly. In the past 24 hours, the price of MELANIA has dropped an additional 5%, underperforming compared to other meme coins.
