Tragedy in the Trenches

February 21, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Over the last few months, the world witnessed a significant surge in memecoins—particularly celebrity and nation coins. Prominent figures and nations introduced their tokens, leading to substantial market movements and heightened interest. However, this rapid proliferation has been accompanied by notable declines, underscoring the volatile and speculative nature of the trenches.

Notable Meme Coins and Their Market Performance

  • $TRUMP: Launched by President Donald Trump shortly before his second inauguration, $TRUMP's market capitalization soared to $27 billion within a day. Early traders experienced significant gains; however, by early February 2025, the token's price experienced a sharp decline, leading to cumulative investor losses of approximately $2 billion.

  • $MELANIA: First Lady Melania Trump introduced $MELANIA on January 19, 2025. Despite initial enthusiasm, the coin's value plummeted by 90% by February 6, highlighting meme coins' volatility and speculative nature.

  • $CAR: The Central African Republic's President, Faustin-Archange Touadera, announced $CAR as the nation's official meme coin on February 10, 2025. This initiative, described as an "experiment" in national development, initially saw the token's value surge, only to face significant declines shortly thereafter.

  • $LIBRA: Promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei on February 14, 2025, $LIBRA experienced a rapid increase in value following the endorsement. However, the token's price collapsed by over 80% within hours, leading to significant investor losses and political controversy.

Liquidity Drain and Insider Activities

The launch and subsequent collapse of meme coins like $MELANIA and $LIBRA have led to substantial liquidity being siphoned from the market. For instance, the $LIBRA token, promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei, saw approximately $99 million withdrawn by eight wallets linked to its creator shortly after its launch. Hayden Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures, admitted to managing up to $100 million related to $LIBRA but denied personal gain, describing the situation as a "plan gone miserably wrong." 

Investigations have uncovered that entities like Kelsier Ventures, Meteora, and M3M3 coordinated meme coin launches on Solana, extracting around $200 million from investors. These orchestrated efforts have intensified the liquidity crisis, leaving the market precarious.