Insider Selling Raises Concerns as MELANIA Token Plummets to Historic Low

• A wave of heavy sell-offs linked to the Melania meme coin (MELANIA) has raised fresh concerns about insider activity within the project.

• This alarming trend has been exacerbated by a significant drop in MELANIA’s value, plummeting 97% from its peak at Donald Trump’s inauguration.

• According to on-chain analyst EmberCN, the MELANIA team has liquidated over $14.75 million worth of tokens in the past month, further fueling concerns about market manipulation.

This article delves into the dubious insider selling surrounding MELANIA, highlighting the token’s drastic fall and its implications for investors.

Heavy Insider Selling Sends MELANIA to Historic Low

On April 19, on-chain analyst EmberCN reported that wallets tied to the project offloaded nearly 3 million MELANIA tokens. In return, the team received approximately 9,009 SOL, valued at around $1.2 million. The tokens were sold through unilateral liquidity provisions added to the MELANIA/SOL trading pair on Meteora.

This transaction is part of a broader pattern. In the past three days, the MELANIA team reportedly moved 7.64 million tokens, worth about $3.21 million, from both liquidity and community wallets. The team systematically added these tokens to the same liquidity pool and sold them for SOL within a pre-defined price range. Out of the total, they sold 2.95 million tokens just hours before EmberCN’s disclosure.

“In the past 3 days, the $MELANIA project team has continued to transfer out 7.643 million $MELANIA tokens ($3.21M) from liquidity and community addresses, then added them to MELANIA/SOL one-sided liquidity on Meteora, selling $MELANIA within a set range for SOL. Of which, 2.95 million $MELANIA tokens were sold 7 hours ago for 9,009 SOL,” EmberCN stated.

EmberCN further pointed out that the project’s team has sold over 23 million MELANIA tokens in the past month. The tokens were worth approximately $14.75 million.

Melania’s Team SOL Token Holding. Source: EmberCN

These repeated sell-offs have added weight to concerns over internal dumping—suspicions that first emerged in March. At the time, blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps reported unusual movements of over $30 million in MELANIA tokens. Originally part of the community allocation, the tokens appeared to be gradually transferred to exchanges without explanation.

The firm linked these transactions to Hayden Davis, a co-founder of the meme coin. Davis previously worked on another controversial token, LIBRA, which briefly surged after Argentine President Javier Milei endorsed it, then quickly collapsed.

Bubblemaps also revealed that wallets tied to the MELANIA team control roughly 92% of the token’s total supply. Critics argue that this level of centralization raises red flags over potential market manipulation.

As a result of these concerns, MELANIA has seen its price collapse. After reaching a high of over $13 earlier this year, the token has dropped by over 96% to an all-time low of $0.38, according to data from COINOTAG.

MELANIA Token Price Performance. Source: COINOTAG

However, the steep decline reflects both internal turmoil and broader weakness in the meme coin sector. Investor appetite for high-risk tokens appears to be fading amid global uncertainty and a more cautious market sentiment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the tumultuous journey of the MELANIA token serves as a cautionary tale for investors in the cryptocurrency market. The combination of significant insider selling and market volatility points to a precarious future for the token. As the situation unfolds, stakeholders are urged to proceed with caution in navigating the cryptocurrency landscape.