TL;DR
- The creator of LIBRA cashed out over $1.5 million in profits from the MELANIA token using exchanges like MEXC, Bitfinex, and Kraken.
- He used part of those funds to short bitcoin and generated another $2.5 million, in addition to participating in farming the MET token.
- Argentine and U.S. authorities are investigating Davis and President Milei for multimillion-dollar losses tied to LIBRA.
Hayden Davis, one of the figures behind the controversial LIBRA token, continues to earn millions through the launch and manipulation of memecoins.
According to crypto analyst Dethective, Davis recently withdrew just over $1.5 million in profits from the MELANIA token, which is allegedly linked to Melania Trump’s image. The transactions, which included funds in USDT and USDC, were sent to platforms such as MEXC, Bitfinex, and Kraken.
Dethective also identified further activity from wallets associated with Davis. Among these are operations that used MELANIA funds to bet against the price of Bitcoin, yielding an additional $2.5 million in profits. These wallets also interact with the Meteora protocol, transferring part of the funds to farm the MET token.
MELANIA’s Fall into the Abyss
At its peak, the wallets promoting the MELANIA token held over $3.8 billion. However, that figure has dropped to just over $150 million. The sharp capital reduction stems from a series of gradual withdrawals by the developers, who appear to be using different DeFi strategies to disperse the assets without drawing immediate attention.
Davis’ activity has not gone unnoticed. In March, the investigator claimed Davis had withdrawn at least $1.6 million from wallets tied to LIBRA and other projects. He also reported that one of the wallets used to fund early buyers of LIBRA moved $55,000 to Coinbase just days before Argentine authorities expanded their investigation.
Davis Admits to Manipulating the Launches of MELANIA and LIBRA
Argentina’s Office of the Attorney General is currently conducting a technical audit of LIBRA’s smart contract. Meanwhile, a new lawsuit in the United States accuses President Javier Milei of causing $250 million in investor losses through his promotion of the token. At the same time, Senator Elizabeth Warren is demanding an investigation into the SEC’s conduct, citing a possible preferential treatment of memecoins backed by Donald Trump and his circle.
Davis admitted to manipulating the MELANIA and LIBRA launches in an interview with YouTuber Coffeezilla, which has increased pressure on both U.S. and Argentine authorities to take further action on the pending cases.
