A group of crypto traders reportedly purchased millions of dollars worth of Melania Trump’s memecoins minutes before she announced the launch on social media.

According to a May 6 Financial Times report, the crypto traders earned roughly $100 million from buying $2.6 million worth of MELANIA tokens before the public launch on Jan. 19. Shortly after Trump announced the memecoin launch on social media, the price surged from roughly $2.00 to $12.95 — a 550% increase. The traders reportedly sold their holdings within 12 hours.

“In total, the 24 accounts bought up 16.7mn of the 200mn total $MELANIA tokens scheduled for sale during the launch period,” the Financial Times reported. “[…] the run of sales that started pre-launch continued. About $900,000 worth of tokens bought by an additional 22 accounts in the 42 seconds after the launch.”

Price of MELANIA token from Jan. 19 to Jan. 28. Source: CoinMarketCap

The memecoin started trading roughly two days after then-president-elect Donald Trump announced the launch of his own TRUMP coin. Both tokens have come under scrutiny from lawmakers, alleging conflicts of interest and corruption due to the potential for bribery and foreign influence.

Memecoin dinner prompts call for impeachment

Much of the scrutiny and criticism from US lawmakers over the memecoins seems to be directed at the president rather than the first lady. After Trump announced some of the top TRUMP tokenholders would be offeried the chance to get access to him at a private dinner and tour, one senator called for his impeachment.

Related: Dem lawmakers object to hearing, citing ‘Trump’s crypto corruption’

Both the prices of the MELANIA and TRUMP tokens have dropped significantly since shortly after their launch in January, with the First Lady’s memecoin falling to $0.31 at the time of publication. The TRUMP token price briefly surged after the memecoin dinner announcement in April, but had dropped to $10.90 as of May 6.

Two companies connected to the president control roughly 80% of the TRUMP supply, though many of the tokens were locked and will be released over the next three years. Critics have suggested that the project’s insiders could still rug-pull investors.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin by market cap USDt (USDT), has announced a partnership with Chainalysis that will integrate the company’s compliance and monitoring tools onto Tether’s tokenization platform. The move comes amid expanding oversight across the crypto industry.

Launched in November 2024, the Hadron by Tether platform is designed for institutions, corporations and governments, entities that may be interested in tokenizing real-world assets ranging from financial instruments and real estate to debt and commodities.

The months following the launch have seen increased adoption of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. According to RWA.xyz, the total RWA market amounts to $22.1 billion, up 10.5% in the past 30 days. There are a total of 100,115 holders of RWA tokens, up 5.6% in the same time frame.

“By integrating Chainalysis directly into the platform, we’re offering institutional-grade transparency, compliance, and risk mitigation without compromising on decentralization or control,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement.

According to the announcement, Hadron by Tether users will now have risk detection, real-time transaction monitoring, and Know-Your-Transaction (KYT) support. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Tether raked in $13 billion in profits in 2024, and posted $1 billion in operating profit for Q1 2025.

Related: What is Hadron? Exploring Tether’s asset tokenization platform

Chainalysis acquisitions and predictions

Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform, is known for its security tools and real-time monitoring. Among its partners include exchanges Crypto.com and Bitfinex, payment processor MoonPay, and bank BBVA.

Chainalysis has recently beefed up its technology stack, acquiring Web3 security firm Hexagate in December 2024 and Alterya, an AI fraud detection startup, in January this year. The company, founded in 2014, predicted that 2025 would be the biggest year ever for crypto scams due to the rise of artificial intelligence.

Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis

Key Takeaways:

Data shows Bitcoin bulls opening margin long positions from $94,400.

A $189 million increase in Bitcoin futures open interest and a 15% increase in trading volume show sustained buying interest.

BTC momentum tends to slow before FOMC meetings and then turns volatile afterward. The same could happen following this week’s Federal Reserve statements.

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls are holding strong around the $94,500 level as the market awaits the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on May 7. Bitcoin analyst Axel Adler Jr. noted BTC’s price strength and pointed out a bullish cluster of long positions forming around $94,400 in the futures market. A similar cluster was observed at the end of April, which pushed BTC prices to $97,500.

Bitcoin futures position dominance data. Source: X.com

Similarly, Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) exhibited a swift increase of 2,000 BTC, i.e., roughly $189 million, over the past few hours. A rise in OI and a 15% increase in aggregated volume imply consistent buying pressure despite the price dip.

The aggregated funding rate remains near neutral, indicating balanced sentiment between longs and shorts over the past eight hours. However, funding rates have fluctuated, with brief spikes to 0.018% on May 6, suggesting periodic optimism among leveraged traders.

Bitcoin open interest, aggregated volume, funding rate and price. Source: Velo. chart

MN Capital founder Michaël van de Poppe also identified Bitcoin’s bounce and said that BTC could continue to recover in the markets. The analyst said,

“I think we’ll continue the grind on Bitcoin upward, the key factor here is whether Gold starts to correct after FOMC tomorrow, indicating that there’s the start of the business cycle.

Related: Bitcoin sell-off to $93.5K is a brief hiccup — Data still supports new BTC highs in 2025

Bitcoin momentum stalls before FOMC

Swissblock, an investment management firm, revealed that Bitcoin’s momentum typically slowed down before the last five interest rate decisions, followed by a sharp increase in price volatility. In an analysis on X, the firm presented a chart tracking Bitcoin’s 25-day rate of change (ROC) from October 2024 to May 2025.

Bitcoin’s price steadily climbed in the charts whenever the ROC trended up or went positive. It was mainly observed during October-November 2024, and recently in April 2025.

Bitcoin price momentum around FOMC. Source: X.com

Consequently, when the ROC tapers off, BTC corrects, an outcome observed in January-February 2025. Recent data indicates that the ROC remains on an uptrend in May 2025, which increases the possibility of a price gain for Bitcoin.

Swissblock emphasized that the FOMC meeting is a potential catalyst for Bitcoin’s next move, noting that the rate decision and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s tone could spark volatility in financial markets.

Related: Bitcoin price rallied 1,550% the last time the ‘BTC risk-off’ metric fell this low

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.