Just when you thought the crypto world couldn’t get any weirder, Meteora drops a $4.2 million airdrop to addresses linked to the Trump team mere hours after its co-founder gets slapped with a lawsuit alleging memecoin scams.Alright, let’s break it down. Three addresses, reportedly connected to the Trump token (TRUMP) development and early liquidity provision, found themselves beneficiaries of a $4.2 million airdrop of $MET tokens from Meteora. According to Arkham Intelligence, these smart ones didn’t waste any time, promptly depositing their newfound wealth into OKX exchange.
Coincidence? Maybe. But the timing is suspect, to say the least, considering the legal storm brewing over Meteora’s co-founder, Benjamin Chow.
So, what’s this lawsuit all about? Well, Chow stands accused of using endorsements from none other than Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei to allegedly pump and dump memecoins, defrauding retail investors to the tune of $57 million. The coins in question include $M3M3, $LIBRA, $MELANIA, $ENRON (yes, really), and $TRUST. The lawsuit seeks to claw back all profits, triple compensatory damages, and appoint an independent receiver to oversee Meteora’s smart-contract programs. Sounds like a party, right?
Interestingly, wallets associated with $MELANIA liquidity provision were eligible for the $MET airdrop, but tokens linked to the alleged fraud ring, including $AIAI and $M3M3, received nothing. It’s like the airdrop was specifically designed to reward… someone. Hmmm…
The lawsuit paints a picture of a carefully orchestrated scheme: narrative manipulation using celebrity endorsements, insider accounts executing trades, hype generated by paid influencers, price manipulation through Meteora’s controls, and, finally, the grand finale: the liquidation of positions to drain liquidity. Classic pump-and-dump tactics, with a crypto twist.
Consider the $MELANIA token, which crashed from a peak of $13.73 to a measly $0.095. Forensic analysis points to a coordinating wallet (prefixed 0xcEA) that repeatedly funded deployer wallets and seeded initial liquidity. Hayden Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures and co-founder of both $LIBRA and $MELANIA, even admitted to “sniping our own coin to prevent snipers from sniping our own coin” in a YouTube interview. Yeah, that sounds totally legit.
But wait, there’s more! The Trump family has reportedly generated around $1 billion in pre-tax gains from crypto ventures over the past year. The $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins generated approximately $427 million, while World Liberty Financial token sales fetched around $550 million. Now, throw in the $4.2 million Meteora airdrop, which conveniently landed just hours after President Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), and you’ve got a recipe for speculation.
Could Meteora’s founder be next in line for a pardon? Only time will tell. But one thing’s for sure: this crypto saga is far from over. As the Department of Justice continues to investigate crypto shenanigans, we can expect to see more twists, turns, and, of course, plenty of memes. And maybe, just maybe, some justice.
