First Lady Melania Trump has reignited promotion of her official Solana-based meme coin, MELANIA, after a 10-month hiatus by sharing an AI-generated video on her X account with 3.8 million followers. The post, which read "Into the future" and tagged the token's official profile, led to a price spike, with MELANIA trading at $0.182—up nearly 7% in 24 hours and over 12% for the week. However, the token remains down approximately 99% from its all-time high of $13.05 in January 2025.
Controversy continues to shadow the project, as blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps reported that $30 million worth of community tokens were sold by team wallets without explanation in April, with an additional $8 million in sales later. Bubblemaps publicly criticized the move, stating on X, "Melania Trump won’t address the $10M of community tokens sold by team wallets. Just post an AI video after 10 months of silence? Cool, cool, cool." Further concerns arose from Lookonchain data showing team-linked wallets sold $1.5 million in tokens over three days after a price surge.
The MELANIA token, launched just two days after President Donald Trump's TRUMP meme coin in January, has mirrored its volatile trajectory, with TRUMP also down nearly 90% from its peak. The project's strategist, Hayden Davis, who also worked on the controversial LIBRA token promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei, has a history of insider-dominated launches, including a Wolf of Wall Street-themed token that lost 99% of its value in two days. Despite the promotion, no official statements have addressed the transparency issues, highlighting risks in celebrity-linked digital assets.