Analysis: 24 crypto wallets earned $99.6M by buying the $MELANIA memecoin in the two and a half minutes before Melania Trump posted about the coin on January 19
Small group of digital wallets bought up coins in the minutes before it was announced, FT analysis shows — Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Context & Ripple Effects
MELANIA emerged immediately after the Solana-based token launch tied to Melania Trump, and the linked coverage subsequently recorded a steep decline in its price. The FT’s wallet-timing analysis adds a distributional dimension to that arc: gains were concentrated before public promotion rather than merely reflecting later market volatility.
It also sits alongside evidence that early buyers captured much of the value in the related TRUMP token, while large numbers of later wallets lost money. That pattern had already prompted concern among crypto executives about investor backlash toward the two memecoins.
First-order effects
- The 24 wallets identified by the FT face heightened scrutiny over whether their trading reflected privileged advance knowledge; the analysis itself does not establish who controlled them or prove wrongdoing.
- For MELANIA buyers who entered after promotion, the finding sharpens the contrast between early trading gains and the token’s later decline, which was reported as nearly 90% from January 20.
Second-order effects
- The report raises reputational risk for the token’s associated promoters and for exchanges or analytics firms serving as the market’s credibility infrastructure, especially where launch disclosures and wallet activity are opaque.
- It gives retail participants another concrete reason to treat celebrity-linked token launches as markets where speed and access can matter more than the public marketing moment.
Third-order effects
- If comparable wallet-concentration findings recur, memecoin markets may face a deeper legitimacy gap: public-facing launches can increasingly be judged by preannouncement allocation and trading patterns, not just stated community participation.
- The paired MELANIA and TRUMP coverage points toward a market structure in which early, well-positioned wallets capture outsized returns while later entrants bear more downside—an outcome likely to intensify demands for transparency, even where legal liability remains unresolved.
The trend: Celebrity and political memecoins are becoming a test case for whether highly visible token launches can sustain trust when blockchain data repeatedly highlights concentrated early gains.