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- LIBRA and MELANIA token launches linked by suspicious wallet transfers, suggesting coordinated pump-and-dump schemes by the same group.
- LIBRA’s endorsement by President Milei and insider deals raise questions about its legitimacy, with liquidity pulled post-launch.
Blockchain analysts have uncovered troubling connections between the developers behind the LIBRA meme coin and several other high-profile crypto projects, including the MELANIA token. The findings have sparked concern within the crypto market after the LIBRA coin briefly received an endorsement from Argentine President Javier Milei.
Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps, alongside pseudonymous on-chain investigator Stephen Findeisen (known as CoffeeZilla), exposed an interaction between the wallets used in the LIBRA and MELANIA token launches.
1/ How $LIBRA was created by the same team behind MELANIA and other short-lived coins
Featuring new onchain evidence
A thread with Coffeezilla 🧵 ↓ pic.twitter.com/gNwj97KapF
— Bubblemaps (@bubblemaps) February 17, 2025
According to their analysis, a Solana wallet connected to the MELANIA coin is currently trading at $1.29, recording a decrease of 2.43% over the past 24 hours. It accumulated over $2.4 million through early trading before transferring the funds to an Avalanche wallet. This same wallet was later linked to the primary creator wallet for the LIBRA token, suggesting a coordinated effort between the two projects.
The investigation uncovered cross-chain transfers and suspicious wallet activity pointing to a single group controlling the LIBRA and MELANIA token launches and other projects such as TRUST, KACY, VIBES, and HOOD. These projects reportedly followed similar patterns of price increases followed by dramatic crashes, characteristic of “pump-and-dump” schemes.
LIBRA’s Controversial Endorsement
However, LIBRA’s connection to high-profile figures has fueled further controversy. The token received a brief endorsement from Argentine President Javier Milei, who later distanced himself from the project after it faced issues, as reported in our previous post.
On February 16, 2025, Chaofan Shou, co-founder of Fuzzland, accused LIBRA’s market maker of operating from Delhi and being involved in the MELANIA token launch. Despite these claims, President Milei’s office has denied any prior knowledge of the project, asserting that he only learned about it in February 2025.
STATEMENT
(the following statement was drafted with help of legal counsel)
On 16 Feb 2025, the Office of the Presidency of the Argentine Republic released a statement (the “Statement”) in relation to the ‘Viva La Liberdad’ Project (the “Project”).
The Statement contains…
— KIP Protocol (@KIPprotocol) February 17, 2025
Moreover, on-chain data shows that the group that promoted MELANIA may have arranged LIBRA’s rise and fall afterward. The LIBRA token saw its market capitalization soar into the billions before crashing by 95% after insiders pulled $87 million in liquidity. This mirrors the pattern seen in the MELANIA token, as reported by CNF, which similarly experienced an explosive rise before its value collapsed, leaving retail investors at a loss.
Inside the LIBRA Launch
Hayden Mark Davis, a self-identified “launch strategist” and representative of KIP Protocol, admitted to playing a key role in the LIBRA and MELANIA token launches. In an interview, Davis confirmed that his team worked on organizing these projects, even mentioning a disputed practice known as “project sniping,” where teams front-run their launches to avoid market crashes. Despite the criticism surrounding this practice, Davis defended it as a necessary protection for the token’s price stability.
Davis also acknowledged an insider deal with Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, who reportedly received a $5 million refund after losing money in the LIBRA token launch. Davis regretted the refund but confirmed that Portnoy knew the launch in advance.
