Melania Trump's memecoin nets a $99.6 million payday for early investors

A group of traders bought millions of dollars worth of first lady Melania Trump's memecoin before it was publicly announced

A group of traders bought millions of dollars worth of first lady Melania Trump’s memecoin before it was publicly announced, netting a $99.6 million pay day by selling as the coin hit its peak price.

Most of the $MELANIA coins were exchanged for a stablecoin, USDC, whose price is tied to the U.S. dollar.

A handful of traders bought Melania Trump’s memecoin before it went public, and in the process secured a $99.6 million windfall.

Studying the blockchain, which publicly displays wallets and transactions but not identities, the Financial Times found that 24 separate wallets bought $2.6 million worth of $MELANIA two and a half minutes before it was publicly announced by the first lady in a Jan. 19 Truth Social post.

A majority of the $99.6 million cashed out by the wallets was exchanged for USDC, a so-called stablecoin tied to the price of the U.S. dollar, the FT reported. It’s unclear how many people were behind the two dozen wallets.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Memecoins, like $MELANIA and President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP coin, are vehicles for speculation that are not backed by another asset. This type of cryptocurrency is not classified as a security under U.S. financial regulations. The Trump administration adopted a lighter touch on regulation of the crypto industry compared to the Biden administration, and many of the biggest U.S. crypto firms donated to President Trump’s inaugural committee.

Once Melania Trump announced her own coin, hours before President Trump was inaugurated, the wallets sprung into action, taking advantage of a price spike to offload their holdings. In all, the wallets sold 81% of their coins in the first 12 hours of the public sale.

During the first two days of the sale, the price of the coin surged, reaching a high of $13.73 on Jan. 20, the day following its public announcement. The coin was trading Wednesday morning at around 32 cents, down 98% from its peak, according to CoinMarketCap.

One wallet, which alone bought $681,000 worth of $MELANIA precisely 64 seconds before the coin was made public, took advantage of the early euphoria and sold much of its holdings in 24 hours, netting a $39 million payday. It made another $4 million in the next three days offloading the rest.

Another account made $2.5 million by selling most of the $40,000 worth of coins it bought 141 seconds before launch.

About 40% of Trump’s net worth, or about $2.9 billion, is made up of crypto according to the nonprofit State Democracy Defenders Action. The issuers of the $TRUMP stablecoin have also reportedly profited $320 million from trading fees associated with the coin, according to a study by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.

Democrats have condemned the use of cryptocurrency by Trump and his family since he retook office in January. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) introduced a bill called the MEME Act earlier this week to try to prevent a U.S. president or member of Congress from issuing a memecoin. Murphy argued in a video posted on X, the social media platform, that elected officials can use memecoins to receive back-door money in exchange for favors.

“Trump’s memecoin is the most unethical, the most corrupt thing a president of the United States has ever done,” Murphy said.