Melania Trump and Javier Milei were duped in a MemeCoin Scandal as Lawsuit Targets Meteora Founder

• Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei were duped in a memecoin scandal as a $57 million fraud lawsuit targets Meteora Founder.

• Melania memecoin crashed by 95% while Libra crashed by 98% after their launches.

Following Trump's election in November 2024, the Crypto market saw a wave of politician-themed memecoins.

In January, Trump memecoin was launched, followed by Melania and Libra memecoins.

Source: CoinMarketCap

After the launch, Melania and Libra went into a freefall and crashed. As such, Melania has crashed by 95% since then, while Libra has crashed by 98%.

Source: CoinMarketCap

With these tokens crashing, the scandal became widespread, with investors complaining they had been scammed. This scandal has found its way into the U.S court.

Melania Trump and Javier Milei-themed memecoin scandal reaches U.S. court.

A new class action lawsuit has shifted the blame in one of crypto’s most significant meme-coin controversies.

Clearing high-profile figures like First Lady Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei of wrongdoing and pointing instead to Meteora founder Benjamin Chow as the architect of a coordinated token fraud scheme.

The lawsuit, Hurlock v. Kelsier Ventures, accuses Chow, along with Ng Ming Yeow and Hayden Davis of Kelsier Ventures, of engineering a “liquidity trap” disguised as a wave of celebrity-linked tokens. The plaintiffs allege that while Trump and Milei’s names were used to boost credibility, they were not involved in any illegal activity.

“These faces and brands were used as props to legitimize what was actually a coordinated liquidity trap,”

The filing reads.

“Plaintiffs do not allege those public figures were culpable; they were merely the window dressing for a crime engineered by Meteora and Kelsier.”

Meme Coin Mania Turns into Legal Mayhem

The controversy began when Melania Trump promoted a Solana-based meme coin named MELANIA in January, just days after her husband launched his own official token. The coin’s value skyrocketed shortly after the announcement, but then plummeted 99% as insiders allegedly dumped their holdings.

Around the same time, President Javier Milei backed another meme coin called LIBRA, touted as a project to support small Argentine businesses. LIBRA’s price also soared on launch only to crash 90% within hours, prompting Milei to delete his promotional posts.

Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps later discovered that both the MELANIA and LIBRA tokens were connected to the same wallet network. This revelation fueled suspicions of coordinated manipulation and ultimately led to the class action lawsuit.

Benjamin Chow Alleged as the Mastermind

According to the court filing, Benjamin Chow was “at the center of the enterprise.” The complaint alleges that Chow used Meteora’s name and infrastructure to run a separate, fraudulent operation of “pump-and-dump” tokens.

He allegedly assembled a small team, including Ng Ming Yeow, co-founder of both Meteora and Jupiter, and members of the Davis family (Hayden, Charles, and Gideon Davis), through Kelsier Ventures to carry out the scheme.

“Together, they launched and marketed at least 15 tokens that followed an identical blueprint,”

The complaint claims.

These tokens reportedly used celebrity or political branding to attract retail investors, creating short-lived hype that allowed insiders to exit with profits before the inevitable collapse.

Kelsier Ventures’ Role Under Scrutiny

While Hayden Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures, initially served as the public face of the LIBRA project, giving multiple interviews after its collapse, the new filing alleges that he and his company acted under Chow’s direct instructions.

Davis is now accused of executing “at least 15 token launches at Chow’s direction,” all of which allegedly followed the same pump-and-dump pattern.

A Broader Reckoning for Meme Coins

This case highlights the risks of influencer-driven crypto projects, where branding and hype often overshadow fundamentals. The plaintiffs’ decision not to pursue claims against Trump and Milei underscores a growing legal understanding that celebrity promoters are frequently used as marketing tools, rather than direct participants in fraudulent schemes.

As regulators and courts take a closer look at meme coin markets, the Meteora lawsuit could set an important precedent, especially for distinguishing promoters from perpetrators in crypto-related fraud.