Meme Coin Secret: When the Presidential Family Turns Trust into Gold

Peak and Collapse: Presidential Tokens in Investors’ Hands

An unprecedented scene first appeared in January 2025: two cryptocurrencies named after a political family surged to a market cap of billions of USD within hours, then nearly vanished after a few weeks. According to estimates from Chainalysis Inc. and Bubblemaps SAS, the involved group may have profited over 350 million USD from this activity.

These figures do not reflect the full reality. If the internal team made 350 million from early trades, then late buyers – hundreds of thousands of retail investors – experienced a financial disaster. By December, TRUMP had fallen 92% from its peak, remaining at $5.9; MELANIA dropped 99%, down to $0.11.

“This is the ultimate value-draining machine designed by an incredibly talented group,” commented Max Burwick, a New York-based lawyer representing harmed investors. This statement is not alarmist but an objective assessment of meme coin structures – virtual assets entirely not based on real cash flow or economic value.

The Hidden Behind the Exchange: Mainstream Players

The emergence of presidential tokens is no coincidence. Behind the recent biggest meme coin surges is a network of discreet figures working behind the scenes.

Hayden Davis is a notable name. She is the crypto advisor to Argentina’s President and has become the center of a series of lawsuits related to “pump and dump” scams – price manipulation techniques where insiders sell off tokens after a sharp rise. Blockchain analysis shows Davis and her partners made over 150 million USD from meme coins, with more than half from projects in Argentina.

However, Davis is not an official operator. The clue points to this person: Ng Ming Yeow, a Singaporean entrepreneur often nicknamed “Meow.” Meow co-founded the Meteora exchange – the platform where the three largest tokens (including TRUMP and MELANIA) were first issued.

Meteora: “Unlawful” Exchange in the Heart of Singapore

Meteora is not a dedicated meme coin platform, but 90% of its recent $134 million revenue comes from meme coin trading. This highlights the importance of this segment within modern crypto trading.

When asked about the platform’s role in issuing TRUMP and MELANIA, Ng Ming Yeow was cautious. He affirmed that Meteora only provides “technical support” and does not participate in trading or exploit insider information. However, blockchain data tells a different story.

Nicolas Vaiman, co-founder of Bubblemaps – a company specializing in blockchain cash flow analysis – detected suspicious transactions. One address bought $1.1 million worth of TRUMP in just a few seconds (clearly with prior information), then sold within three days for a $100 million profit. Another address bought MELANIA before public release, earning $2.4 million.

“In traditional stock markets, this would be called insider trading,” Vaiman analyzed. “But in the meme coin realm, such crimes seem legal.”

Chain of Benefits: From Bill Zanker to Cryptocurrency Billionaires

Bill Zanker, a 71-year-old entrepreneur who collaborated with the President on business projects for two decades, appears as the operator of “Fight Fight Fight LLC” – the company managing the presidential tokens. The official website only lists a UPS address in West Palm Beach, but Delaware records reveal Zanker’s name.

Zanker’s history suggests he is skilled at “making money from empty ideas.” Previously, he promoted real estate seminars, sold NFTs with the President (each trading card costing $99), earning at least $7 million. Moving into meme coins is a natural progression.

In April 2025, a controversial party at “Trump National Golf Club” revealed more about the chain of benefits. The top 220 investors holding the most tokens were invited – mostly crypto entrepreneurs aiming to influence policy. Crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who bought $15 million worth of TRUMP, was the largest “holder.”

The party’s atmosphere reflected the reality of the field: some guests wore lobster suits, security checked passports, and dozens of protesters stood outside in the rain.

Meme Coin Architecture: “Voluntary Deception”

To understand how meme coins operate, look at the leading creation and trading platforms. On exchanges like Pump.fun (despite the specific name), anyone can issue tokens with a few clicks – no programming, no paperwork, and no blockchain knowledge required.

Starting prices are just fractions of a cent, increasing according to a set formula as demand grows. When a token becomes popular on social media, it gets listed on major exchanges, attracting more traders and pushing the price up. If you pick the right token, profits can multiply tenfold within hours.

But this creates an inherent conflict of interest. Issuers often promise “fixed token supply,” but as prices rise, they have strong incentives to “sell as much as possible.” Common tricks include fake transactions, paying celebrities to hype, and dumping when others FOMO in.

One analyst calls this “voluntary two-sided scam” – everyone knows someone will lose, but they hope to cash out first.

Hidden Cash Flows and Unanswered Legal Questions

A month after TRUMP’s launch, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it does not set specific regulations for meme coins, only stating that “anti-fraud laws” may still apply.

This creates a significant legal gap. While prosecutors can investigate traditional scams, they have never intervened in meme coin activities. The reasons may include the decentralized nature of blockchain, difficulty tracing involved parties, or simply lower priority.

Blockchain data shows Davis still trades regularly through her wallet, despite becoming a “pariah” in the crypto community. But Ng Ming Yeow, whom some see as “covering” for these activities, continues to develop his exchange. Meteora’s token issued in October has surpassed a $300 million market cap.

Philosophy and Reality: “Everything is Meme Coin”

Ng Ming Yeow often defends meme coins by speculating that “all financial assets are essentially meme coins” – even the US dollar, because their value is based on “public trust.”

He argues that judging the entire crypto industry as a scam is unfair. His metaphor: “There may be feces and E. coli in the bathtub, but there could also be a baby in there. The baby still exists.”

However, this metaphor also exposes the harsh reality: people like Davis – issuing rapid-fall tokens that disrupt markets – are clearly “the waste disposers” that the industry needs to eliminate.

Potential Conflicts of Interest: From Strategic Reserves of Bitcoin to Billionaire Pardons

The meme coin craze is just the beginning of a broader conflict of interest spectrum. The President has promoted a plan for the “U.S. government to buy strategic Bitcoin reserves”; his son Eric owns a Bitcoin mining company; the family holds licensing rights for crypto real estate projects in Saudi Arabia.

Most recently, the President pardoned billionaire Zhao Changpeng, co-founder of a major exchange. This decision raises suspicions, especially since that exchange previously supported other family crypto projects.

White House spokesperson confirmed the President attended the meme coin party “in a personal capacity,” as if “off-duty” would avoid conflicts of interest. But with revenue from meme coins and pro-crypto policies from the government, the line between personal and official is blurred.

Conclusion: The Market Has Gone Cold, but the System Persists

By November, total meme coin trading volume had dropped 92% from the January peak. The allure of meme tokens has significantly waned as prices fell and fewer celebrities promoted them.

But the craze is merely a symptom of a deeper issue: as regulation control weakens, and as “hype players” educate each other on market manipulation, the only limit is their imagination.

Hundreds of thousands of retail investors – late buyers and quick sellers – have paid a heavy lesson. The platform operators, advisors, and token issuers remain silent, and their cash flows continue.

As the hype subsides, the question is not whether meme coins will survive, but whether regulators are willing to intervene, or if meme coins will continue to be “value-draining machines” for those who understand their mechanics best.