Key Takeaways
- LIBRA insiders allegedly laundered $2.7 million through POPE meme coin amid DOJ probe.
- MELANIA token experienced a rapid rise and fall in market value post-launch.
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Today, Lookonchain, a blockchain analytics firm, revealed that LIBRA and MELANIA insiders allegedly laundered funds through a suspicious meme coin transaction.
It seems that the $LIBRA and $MELANIA insider team is laundering funds.
They spent 19,846 $SOL($2.76M) to buy a memecoin(POPE) with a market cap of less than $150K, and sold it for 175 $SOL($24K), losing $2.73M!
That $2.73M was effectively funneled to other wallets in a “legal”… pic.twitter.com/ACDC0EDcjx
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 26, 2025
The analysis shows the insiders spent $2.76 million in Solana (SOL) to purchase POPE tokens, only to sell them for $24,000, resulting in a $2.73 million loss.
This comes as the US Department of Justice is investigating the creation and collapse of the LIBRA token, according to La Nación.
The probe examines potential economic crimes, including fraud and market manipulation, following a criminal complaint filed by an Argentine law firm with US authorities.
Key figures under investigation include Argentine President Javier Milei, whose social media endorsement of LIBRA preceded its price surge and subsequent collapse.
LIBRA founders Hayden Davis and Julian Peh are also under scrutiny, along with Mauricio Novelli, Manuel Terrones Godoy, and Sergio Daniel Morales.
On February 14, shortly after its launch, LIBRA’s market cap briefly surpassed $4 billion before collapsing, with investor losses estimated at between $87 million and $107 million.
Insiders are alleged to have withdrawn millions in trading fees and liquidity pool funds.
MELANIA, a token endorsed by former US First Lady Melania Trump and launched on January 19, 2025, saw its market cap reach $4 billion within 30 minutes of launch.
The token, built on the Solana blockchain, has since dropped more than 90% from its initial price of $13.7 to approximately $1.4.
On February 16, a report exposed a complex network manipulating the market of LIBRA and MELANIA meme coins, involving influential figures and orchestrated insider strategies.
The next day, on February 17, Argentine President Javier Milei faced fraud charges related to the LIBRA meme coin scandal, which severely impacted traders following his endorsement.
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