A May 6 report from the Financial Times alleges that a cluster of traders purchased Melania Trump’s $MELANIA meme coin just two and a half minutes before the First Lady’s January 19 Truth Social post, which unveiled the namesake cryptocurrency.
$MELANIA Makes Headlines
According to the London-based media outlet’s report, 24 wallets bought $2.6 million worth of $MELANIA roughly 150 seconds ahead of Trump’s Truth Social announcement, with the traders earning nearly $100 million.
The Financial Times claims that most of the traders’ meme coin profits were eventually exchanged for USDC, though just who was behind the wallets is still unknown.
The launch of $MELANIA and U.S. President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP coin just days ahead of his inauguration this past January has raised eyebrows among his political opponents on Capitol Hill and in the cryptocurrency community, particularly concerning presidential ethics.
Trump’s Ties To Crypto Under Scrutiny
Trump is slated to host an exclusive dinner for the top 220 $TRUMP investors at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., later this month, prompting several U.S. lawmakers to question the nature of the event.
Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) called on Jamieson Greer, the acting director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, to launch an “urgent inquiry” into Trump’s crypto venture in an April 25 letter.
“The American people deserve the unwavering assurance that access to the presidency is not being offered for sale to the highest bidder in exchange for the President’s own financial gain,” the U.S. lawmakers said.
On Tuesday, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), announced that the group would launch a “preliminary inquiry” into U.S. President Donald Trump’s ties to the crypto industry.
“President Trump’s financial entanglements to the $TRUMP coin, as well as the attempted use of the White House to host competitions to prop up the value of $TRUMP, represent an unprecedented, pay-to-play scheme to provide access to the Presidency to the highest bidder,” Blumenthal said.
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