The Melania (MELANIA) meme coin is facing renewed scrutiny after recent blockchain analysis revealed that its development team sold over $1.5 million worth of MELANIA tokens within a three-day window.
This extensive selling activity, which mirrors trends seen in the preceding month, has fueled speculation about potential insider trading and the coin’s future performance.
Analysis by Lookonchain indicates that the Melania team not only manipulated liquidity but also executed a systematic dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategy to divest significant amounts of tokens in smaller increments. This tactic has helped to avoid sharp declines in price while maintaining ongoing selling pressure.
The #Melania team didn’t just add or remove liquidity to sell $MELANIA, they also employed a DCA strategy for direct sales!
2 days ago, they sold 1.18M $MELANIA for 4,230 $SOL($632K) using the DCA strategy.
Today, they are selling another 2.01M $MELANIA($938K) through the DCA… pic.twitter.com/FQBUghEogv
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 28, 2025
In the latest transactions, the team sold approximately $632,000 worth of MELANIA just two days ago, followed by a further $938,000 today, culminating in a total exceeding $1.5 million.
Transaction data from Solscan indicates that these sales were conducted through multiple wallets, including addresses like 38z***Tv and 9sV***RG.
Remarkably, this strategic offloading occurred amidst a 21% price recovery for MELANIA over the past week.
Source: LookOnChain
Despite this brief uptick in price, MELANIA remains about 96% below its all-time high of $13.70, which was reached on January 20—the date that coincided with the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
Moreover, the Melania team’s sell-offs are not isolated. On April 20, blockchain analyst EmberCN reported that the team sold 23.45 million MELANIA tokens worth around $14.75 million in the previous month.
These sales were facilitated through both centralized exchanges and liquidity management on decentralized platforms such as Meteora.
On just April 19, the team offloaded 2.95 million tokens for 9,009 SOL, valued at about $1.2 million. This aggressive selling has significantly affected market sentiment surrounding the coin.
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
— 余烬 (@EmberCN) April 19, 2025
Escalating Sell-offs Raise Concerns of Fraud
The ongoing sale spree has intensified fears of a potential rug pull, a concern that has lingered around the Melania meme coin since its launch.
In February, blockchain analytics group Bubblemaps revealed evidence linking the Melania project to the dubious Libra (LIBRA) token.
It was claimed that the same wallet, 0xcEA, was associated with both projects, indicating a possible coordinated effort to profit from manipulating token launches.
@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
— Finance Newso.com (@Finance Newso) February 17, 2025
According to Bubblemaps, the aforementioned wallet aggressively acquired MELANIA tokens during its launch on January 19, profiting $2.4 million that was subsequently laundered through various Solana wallets into Avalanche.
Weeks later, the same wallet financed the launch of the LIBRA token, which also collapsed shortly after insiders reportedly liquidated $107 million.
The downfall of the LIBRA token was rapid and steep, with its value dropping by 94% within four hours of launch. Similar episodes have afflicted MELANIA.
After reaching a staggering market cap of $13 billion, MELANIA witnessed an astonishing 99% decline, resulting in losses for many early investors.
Source: Finance Newso
These findings suggest a troubling pattern in which insiders create buzz around politically themed meme coins, drive prices upward aggressively, and then sell off their holdings rapidly, leaving retail investors with significant losses.
Meme Coin Market Faces Challenges
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
— Finance Newso.com (@Finance Newso) April 25, 2025
Nevertheless, the launch and subsequent poor performance of prominent tokens like TRUMP and MELANIA could have deflated enthusiasm within the meme coin bubble.
This decline in excitement indicates that investors may pivot towards new narratives or become more wary of the risks tied to politically themed meme projects.
Challenges aren’t unique to MELANIA; the TRUMP token, another notable political meme initiative, has seen a troubling drop from a high of $75.35 to just $8.14 over the past three months.
Source: Finance Newso
Despite a recent uptick linked to a token unlocking event releasing 40 million tokens valued at over $300 million, and the announcement of a private dinner with President Donald Trump for key investors, TRUMP’s outlook remains uncertain.
Amid an overall stabilizing market, the Melania token continues to struggle, registering an additional 5% decline in the last 24 hours, falling short of its peers in the meme coin sector.
The post Melania Meme Coin Team Sells $1.5M in Tokens, Sparking Downside Pressure Amid 21% Price Pump appeared first on Finance Newso.
