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Ruholamin Haqshanas
Author
Ruholamin Haqshanas
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Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps has presented new on-chain evidence suggesting that the team behind the controversial Libra (LIBRA) meme coin is the same group responsible for launching Melania (MELANIA).
In a Feb. 17 post on X, the analysts stated they are “highly confident” in their findings, which point to wallet address 0xcEA as a key player in both token launches.
On-Chain Evidence Links LIBRA and MELANIA
Bubblemaps’ investigation claimed that 0xcEA was heavily involved in sniping the Melania token launch on Jan. 19, generating $2.4 million in profits.
These funds were swiftly moved to another wallet on Avalanche, using a series of obfuscated transactions across multiple Solana wallets.
Analysts argue that this pattern strongly suggests that the Melania team—or someone closely associated with them—manipulated their own token launch for insider profit.
Weeks later, the same wallet was found to have funded the creation of the LIBRA token.
When LIBRA launched on Feb. 15, the 0xcEA wallet executed a similar sniping strategy, pocketing $6 million by using multiple side wallets funded via cross-chain transfers from Arbitrum and Avalanche.
Based on these repeated behaviors and interconnected funding patterns, Bubblemaps concluded that the same entity likely orchestrated both token launches.
LIBRA’s launch quickly turned into a financial disaster, with Argentinian President Javier Milei facing calls for impeachment after the token collapsed.
Insiders reportedly cashed out $107 million, wiping out 94% of LIBRA’s value in under four hours.
Blockchain intelligence firm Lookonchain identified eight wallets linked to the LIBRA team that drained liquidity from the project, cashing out $57.6 million in USD Coin (USDC) and 249,671 Solana (SOL) worth nearly $50 million at the time.
Similarly, the Melania (MELANIA) token experienced a rapid rise and fall.
Launched on Jan. 19, it reached a staggering peak valuation of $13 billion within four hours, only to plummet 99% to $189 million shortly after.
Bubblemaps’ analysis suggests that the 0xcEA wallet has been behind several high-profile pump-and-dump schemes.
These include a fake Robinhood (HOOD) token, which at its peak had a $120 million market cap, before crashing to $12.5 million.
Meme Coins Were the Most Popular Crypto Narrative in 2024: CoinGecko
Meme coins dominated the crypto landscape in 2024, capturing nearly a third of investor interest, according to a CoinGecko report.
The study, which analyzed site traffic from January 1 to December 21, revealed that 31% of crypto-related searches centered around these highly speculative tokens.
Among the various trends, the “main meme coin narrative” alone accounted for 15% of interest, a notable increase of over six percentage points from 2023.
Solana-based meme coins followed closely as the fourth-largest category, with an 8% share of interest.
Additionally, other meme coin-related trends, such as those tied to Coinbase’s Base blockchain and AI-themed meme coins, ranked among the top narratives, further solidifying the sector’s prominence.
Despite their speculative nature and frequent association with scams, meme coins have drawn both criticism and admiration.
