Research by Global Ledger shows that scammers leveraged the TRUMP meme coin hype to steal over $857 million from the crypto market in the past week. 

Scammers allegedly created tokens representing other national leaders, sent them to major TRUMP wallet holders to establish legitimacy, and then initiated a rug pull.  

TRUMP Meme Coin Hype Created a Rug Pull Frenzy 

Donald Trump launched a meme coin, TRUMP, last Friday, igniting a chaotic buzz across the crypto market. By Wednesday, the token’s market cap hit $8 billion, following a peak of $15 billion on Sunday. 

Fraudsters have been exploiting the token’s popularity by sending fake coins to wallets associated with the TRUMP team and its creators. Crypto traders, closely watching these wallets, mistakenly bought these worthless tokens. 

They assumed that the TRUMP meme coin team was intentionally buying these tokens and had insider knowledge. Scammers anticipated this behavior and capitalized on it.

According to Global Ledger, at least $857.5 million has been generated through four scam tokens tied to international figures. These tokens—JMilei, MELON, WTRUMP, and PUTIN—were cashed out on major exchanges, including Binance, OKX, Crypto.com, and Bybit. 

Further investigations found that three tokens—PUTIN, KING, and BUFFET—were linked to the same deposit wallets on Binance. These wallets withdrew $91.3 million. 

The pattern suggests that a single entity or group created and cashed out these tokens.

Earlier reports highlight that just 40 wallets control 94% of the total supply of TRUMP and MELANIA meme tokens. 

Despite this concentration, most holders are small-scale investors, with over 80% owning less than $1,000 worth of tokens on Solana.

Additionally, 42% of TRUMP and MELANIA token buyers are first-time crypto investors, according to a separate survey.

“Now is the time to talk about the fact that large-scale political coins cross a further line: they are not just sources of fun, whose harm is at most contained to mistakes made by voluntary participants, they are vehicles for unlimited political bribery, including from foreign nation states,” Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Butein recently wrote on X (formerly Twitter). 

Meanwhile, Ryan Fournier, chairman of Students for Trump, has been scrutinized for allegedly triggering a rug pull in the TIKTOK meme coin. 

On-chain data shows Fournier sold $700,000 worth of the token, draining liquidity and causing its market value to plunge. Fournier denies any wrongdoing.

Overall, scammers are exploiting the current meme coin hype to the fullest extent. Users must stay cautious and understand the dangers and profound volatility of these tokens. 

Cardano (ADA) price is showing increasing bearish momentum across multiple technical indicators as the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap faces mounting pressure. ADA is down 12% in the last seven days and more than 4% in the last 24 hours, with its market cap now at $33 billion, though it maintains its position as a top-10 cryptocurrency in ninth place.

Multiple technical indicators suggest the downward pressure could continue, with ADX showing strengthening bearish momentum and whale accumulation remaining below recent peaks. The potential formation of a death cross in EMA lines adds to the bearish outlook, though key support levels could provide temporary relief.

Cardano Downtrend Is Getting Stronger

Cardano Average Directional Index (ADX) has shown notable strengthening, rising from 14.2 to 22.3 in just two days.

This sharp increase in ADX, which measures trend strength regardless of direction on a 0-100 scale, suggests the current trend is gaining momentum as it moves from a weak trend zone (below 20) into an emerging trend zone (20-25).

With ADA price in a downtrend and ADX rising above 20, this indicates the bearish momentum is likely strengthening. An ADX climbing from weak (14.2) to moderate trend strength (22.3) while price moves lower typically confirms increasing selling pressure.

However, since ADX hasn’t yet crossed above 25 (strong trend threshold), the downtrend may still be in its early stages of development.

ADA Whales Are Recovering

The number of Cardano whale addresses holding between 1 and 10 million ADA has slightly increased from 2,466 to 2,472 in the past three days, though it remains below the January 14 peak of 2,483 addresses.

Whale accumulation patterns often provide insight into potential price movements. These large holders can significantly influence the market through their trading decisions and typically have sophisticated market analyses informing their positions.

The current whale metrics present a mixed signal for ADA price outlook. While the recent uptick in whale addresses suggests some renewed accumulation interest at current prices, the number remains below mid-January levels.

This pattern of whales slightly increasing positions but staying below recent peaks could indicate cautious accumulation rather than strong conviction, suggesting large holders may be testing current price levels rather than showing aggressive buying sentiment.

ADA Price Prediction: A Further 20% Correction?

Cardano Exponential Moving Average (EMA) lines suggest an imminent death cross, with shorter-term averages potentially crossing below longer-term ones.

This bearish technical pattern could trigger a cascade of support tests at $0.87, $0.829, and potentially $0.76, representing a significant 20% downside risk for Cardano price.

A bullish reversal scenario would first need to overcome resistance at $1.03. Further upside targets exist at $1.11 and $1.16, offering potential 21% gains for Cardano price.

However, the looming death cross suggests any upward movement may face significant resistance until the EMA lines show bullish realignment.

After a slightly garbled report yesterday, Ledger co-founder David Balland was rescued in good condition following a kidnapping. Initial reports claimed that fellow co-founder Eric Larchevêque was ransomed, but this was incorrect.

The police are still withholding important details because this is an ongoing investigation. Some of the relevant information may be slightly distorted, pending the capture of the perpetrators.

The Kidnapping of David Balland

The kidnapping saga around former Ledger executives has been particularly bizarre, even by the crypto industry’s standards. Yesterday, it was reported that Eric Larchevêque was apprehended and held for a ransom in Bitcoin.

Instead, however, local reporter Grégory Raymond claimed that the real kidnapping victim was David Balland.

“David Balland has been released after being kidnapped on Tuesday. To avoid threatening the ongoing investigation, we had decided not to reveal anything about what had been happening in recent hours. Please note: it is not yet known whether other victims are still being held by the kidnappers. The search for the perpetrators continues,” he said.

David Balland was also a co-founder of Ledger, but all the original founders have since departed the company. It is currently unclear why news of the kidnapping circulated while naming the wrong victim, but French police have confirmed that Balland was the target.

Reportedly, the ransom was not paid, and Balland was instead freed by a police operation in Vierzon. The crypto industry has seen a wide variety of criminal activities, but the kidnapping of Balland is particularly noteworthy.

Crypto kidnapping plots have happened all around the world over the last few years, but most incidents attempt to steal the victim’s own funds. In one rare case, a man was kidnapped and forced to set up a mining operation.

The police and local reporters have not released all the details regarding Balland’s kidnapping, but one thing stands out. Balland was a major player in a crypto wallet firm, but the criminals evidently did not attempt to steal his own holdings.

Instead, they demanded Bitcoin from a third party.

Of course, the initial reporting on this incident was somewhat garbled, and the relevant parties are still withholding information. After all, this is an active investigation.

Ultimately, the complete truth will only come out after police close the investigation. For now, they claim that David Balland is being treated for injuries suffered during the kidnapping, but he seems to be in good condition.

Other than these details, the whole case must remain a strange episode in what is currently a rather chaotic industry.