First Lady Melania Trump has resurfaced to promote the Solana-based memecoin, MELANIA, through an AI-generated video. This renewed endorsement comes as scrutiny intensifies over significant token sales from team wallets and a substantial decline in the token's value. Trump shared the AI-generated video on X, formerly Twitter, presenting the Official Melania Meme token as a forward-looking investment. This marks her first public promotion of the token in several months, following a period of silence on the matter.
Blockchain analysts have raised alarms, highlighting that the recent promotion does not address the sale of approximately $10 million worth of community tokens by team wallets. Data visualization platform Bubblemaps previously indicated that the team had sold $30 million in community funds without providing an explanation in April 2025. Further analysis by on-chain data trackers revealed that over 23 million MELANIA tokens , were sold by the project's team in the month leading up to April 2025. Between March and April 2025, wallets associated with the MELANIA project withdrew over 31.6 million tokens from community and liquidity pools, converting them into 138,800 SOL, which amounted to approximately $18.4 million at the time of transactions.
The MELANIA token has experienced a dramatic price depreciation since its launch in January 2025. Currently trading around $0.18, the token is down over 90% from its initial price and approximately 98% from its all-time high . This volatility is characteristic of many meme-based cryptocurrencies, which often lack underlying utility and are driven primarily by speculative interest and social media trends.
The broader memecoin market has also seen a downturn, with a significant decrease in new launches and maturing tokens on Solana-based platforms since January 2025, reflecting a cooling interest in high-risk, hype-driven crypto projects. The use of AI-generated video for promotion is a growing trend in digital marketing, offering new avenues for engagement and content creation.