As the fallout from the Libra (LIBRA) meme coin continues, creator Hayden Davis has come forward with an insider trading allegation involving another token.
Davis claimed a similar scheme was orchestrated around the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin launched by President Donald Trump, where insiders had to pay for early access before the token went public,
He alleged that select insiders purchased TRUMP for $500 million at a private event in Washington, D.C, Davis said during an interview with investigative YouTuber Stephen Findeisen, a.k.a. Coffeezilla, on February 16.
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“The most money was made on Trump. That’s the best example, just being honest. People were able to buy in at $500 million,” David claimed.
The creator clarified that it wasn’t a case of bots or retail investors sniping the token at launch. Instead, it was an organized effort to allocate massive amounts to select individuals before the public had access.
Additionally, as Coffeezilla pressed him for details on who arranged the sale, Davis admitted he wasn’t certain but had been told the allocation occurred during a crypto event in D.C.
TRUMP meme coin controversy
The TRUMP coin, launched on January 18, 2025, experienced a meteoric rise in value before witnessing a notable price drop. Notably, as reported by Finbold, Coffeezilla was among the key players in the cryptocurrency space who criticized Trump for unveiling the token while questioning its distribution and timing, given it came out just hours before his inauguration.
Reports indicated that early investors, possibly with insider information, made significant profits, while most crypto wallets lost billions. Shortly after TRUMP’s launch, First Lady Melania unveiled her meme coin, MELANIA.
Overall, the move by the U.S. First Family seems to have triggered a similar trend, with other countries following suit. Besides Argentina, the Central African Republic also unveiled its national meme coin, which crashed hours later, a common theme with this class of digital currencies.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei supported the launch of the LIBRA token, aimed at helping the country’s businesses. The project has caused massive losses for investors in what has been dubbed a ‘rug pull’, allegedly facilitated by President Milei.
LIBRA and MELANIA links
Interestingly, new on-chain data suggests that the team behind the token was also responsible for the MELANIA. In this case, blockchain intelligence platform Bubblemaps revealed a link between a wallet tied to MELANIA’s creator and LIBRA’s sniping activity.
The wallet, which funded LIBRA’s creator, reportedly withdrew over $87 million in liquidity and sniped $6 million worth of tokens at launch. In meme coin launches, “sniping” refers to the rapid purchase of tokens at launch, often enabled by insider knowledge.
As the LIBRA controversy unfolds, President Milei is facing accusations of international embarrassment and a fraud lawsuit over the project while battling a possible impeachment motion. Milei has denied involvement, claiming he lacked details about the project.
Libra creators enlisted several influencers, including Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, to promote the project. However, Portnoy has claimed he lost over $5 million and returned 6 million LIBRA tokens to the project’s founder, which he says would have served as payment for agreeing to promote the initiative.
Featured image via Shutterstock
