ZoneBitcoin EditorialThe year 2025 began under the troubling sign of memecoins, these digital tokens often created from a simple joke or a viral image. Understand that these are tokens deliberately empty of objective if not financial speculation. Technically anyone can create a memecoin and these tokens have been flooding the crypto market for a few years now. While the world of cryptocurrency already knew the twists and turns of this type of token, it is now the turn of presidents to get involved in this game shamelessly.
In January, former US President Donald Trump launched his own memecoin, called TRUMP. Shortly after, his wife Melania Trump followed suit with the MELANIA token. These launches have generated a lot of interest among Trump supporters, who were no strangers to this type of memecoin.
However, the craze for these tokens was short-lived. Many questions arose about their legitimacy and sustainability. In the space of a month, the price of TRUMP fell by 77%, while MELANIA experienced an even more spectacular depreciation of 90%. These massive losses raised questions about the very nature of these digital assets and the real motivations of their creators.
The LIBRA Affair: A Financial and Political Scandal
The phenomenon then spread beyond the United States. In Argentina, President Javier Milei has also ventured into the memecoin field by promoting the LIBRA token. Initially presented as an innovative way to finance the Argentine economy, this token experienced a meteoric rise before collapsing abruptly.
The launch of the LIBRA memecoin, associated with Argentine President Javier Milei, quickly turned into a financial disaster. Initially promoted by Milei himself on social media, the token experienced explosive growth in a matter of hours, briefly reaching a market capitalization of $4,5 billion.
However, this euphoria was short-lived. As always with what are commonly called " shitcoins". In less than four hours, LIBRA price fell by 95%, causing significant losses for many investors. The steep drop was attributed to significant sales executed by investors positioned before the token's launch, raising suspicions of market manipulation.
The Rise and Fall of Presidential Memecoins
Faced with this scandal, Javier Milei quickly deleted his promotional tweet and denied any direct involvement in the project. Nevertheless, the controversy has taken on national proportions, leading to the opening of an investigation by the Office of the Argentine President. The aim is to identify those responsible for what appears to be a " Rug Pull", a well-known fraudulent practice in the cryptocurrency universe.
The affair not only shook investor confidence, but also had significant political repercussions. Opposition voices called for Milei's dismissal, accusing him of promoting a dubious and potentially fraudulent financial project.
- Read the article : Javier Milei accused of promoting crypto scam
Bubblemaps Revelations: A Link Between LIBRA and MELANIA
The case took on a new dimension when Bubblemaps, a blockchain analytics platform, has published its findings on the potential links between the memecoins LIBRA and MELANIA. According to their investigations, these two tokens would have been created and launched by the same team, or at least by people closely related to them.
Bubblemaps analysts identified a Solana wallet address, referred to as “0xcEA,” as being at the heart of these operations. This address is believed to have played a crucial role in the launch of the MELANIA memecoin, generating a substantial $2,4 million in profits before transferring these funds to a wallet on the Avalanche blockchain.
Later, this same “0xcEA” wallet allegedly funded the address responsible for creating the LIBRA token. During the launch of LIBRA, similar “sniping” activities (a practice of quickly buying tokens as soon as they are put on sale) were observed, this time generating profits of $6 million.
These transactions were conducted using multiple secondary addresses, funded by cross-chain transfers involving the Arbitrum and Avalanche networks. The complexity and similarity of the transaction patterns strongly suggest coordination between the MELANIA and LIBRA launches.
Anatomy of a Pump and Dump Diagram
Bubblemaps’ analysis has highlighted what appears to be a classic “pump and dump” pattern in the cryptocurrency world. This practice consists of artificially inflating the value of an asset (the “pump”) before selling massively to make quick profits, thus causing the price to collapse (the “dump”).
According to data provided by lookonchain, another blockchain analytics firm, at least eight wallets linked to the Libra team quickly withdrew liquidity from the token. These withdrawals amounted to $57,6 million in USDC and 249 Solana, representing a total value of $671 million at the time of the transactions.
A similar pattern was observed with the MELANIA token. After briefly reaching a staggering market cap of $13 billion, the price crashed by 99%, leaving only a residual capitalization of $189 million.
The art of sniping with complete freedom
One of the key techniques highlighted by Bubblemaps’ investigation is “sniping.” This practice, common in the launch of new tokens, consists of using automated trading bots to execute ultra-fast trades as soon as a new token is put on sale.
In the case of MELANIA and LIBRA, the address “0xcEA” would have used this technique with great efficiency. When MELANIA was launched, this strategy would have generated $2,4 million in profits in record time. For LIBRA, the gains would have been even greater, reaching $6 million.
Sniping exploits market inefficiencies during token launches, allowing those who master the technique to secure an advantageous position before the general public has access to the token. This practice, while technically legal, raises ethical questions and highlights the inherent inequalities in the cryptocurrency market.
Flawed Tokenomics: A Qtarm Signal Ignored by the Community
A crucial aspect highlighted by this case is the importance of the " tokenomics", that is, the economics and distribution of tokens within a crypto project. In the case of LIBRA, Bubblemaps had warned, even before the price collapse, that the project's tokenomics had major flaws.
The analysis revealed that 82% of the total supply of LIBRA was immediately available for sale. This is simply the very sign that there is no economics behind this token. This extremely concentrated distribution represented a major risk of volatility and manipulation. In addition, no precise details on the tokenomics of the project were communicated before the launch, which should have been a red flag for savvy investors.
This lack of transparency and control mechanisms in the distribution of tokens is unfortunately a common feature of many memecoins. It facilitates schemes of pump and dump and exposes unsophisticated investors to considerable risks.
Celebrity and political involvement: A worrying phenomenon
The involvement of prominent political figures such as Donald Trump, Melania Trump, and Javier Milei in promoting memecoins raises serious ethical and regulatory questions. These public figures, with their large audiences and considerable influence, have the power to significantly influence the cryptocurrency market.
In the case of LIBRA, Javier Milei’s mere mention of the token on social media was enough to trigger a buying frenzy, sending its value to dizzying heights in a matter of hours. This disproportionate reaction illustrates the potential danger of celebrity involvement in promoting volatile and poorly regulated financial assets.
Milei's speed in deleting his promotional tweet and denying any involvement after the stock crash also underscores lack of responsibility otherwise the lack of consideration for his supporters, not to mention the fact that he absolutely understands nothing about cryptocurrencies (in all likelihood).
The impact on the credibility of the cryptocurrency market
The scandals surrounding LIBRA and MELANIA are likely to have a lasting negative impact on the public perception of cryptocurrencies, particularly memecoins. These events reinforce the image of a volatile, speculative and potentially manipulated market, which could hamper the broader adoption of blockchain technologies and digital assets.
For cryptocurrency advocates, these incidents highlight the need for greater public education about the risks associated with these investments. They also highlight the importance of developing crypto projects with solid fundamentals and real-world utility, rather than focusing on quick, speculative gains.
That said, it is also very likely that this is a case that will be forgotten in a while. That is the great advantage of cryptocurrencies: Anyone can scam anyone. Anyone can then claim that they knew nothing about it. Everyone will suffer from general amnesia afterwards, alas…
In an optimistic approach, we can also think that Bitcoin will come out of it bigger and that the amalgamation between crypto and bitcoin will no longer be as frequent?
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