TL;DR

The meme coin hit a $2 billion market cap, rebounding to $13 after Binance and Bybit allowed trading services with it. With 88% of supply in one wallet, MELANIA’s centralization raises manipulation risks amid high volatility.

MELANIA on the Run

Donald Trump, the upcoming president of the USA, whose inauguration is later today (January 20), and his wife, Melania Trump, have made serious waves in the crypto sector lately. Both of them launched meme coins, and as it turned out, they turned into sensations.

Melania Meme (MELANIA) saw the light of day several hours ago, and its market cap exploded to almost $2 billion mere hours later. Its price surpassed $13 before falling below $7.50.

Ever since that dip, though, the valuation started heading north again. It crossed $13 again, while its market cap crossed the $2 billion mark, placing MELANIA among the top 100 biggest cryptocurrencies. Currently, the asset is placed on the 74th spot (per CoinMarketCaps data) after another correction that pushed it down to $8.

MELANIAs previous rally was likely fueled by Binance and Bybit, which allowed trading services with the meme coin. The former introduced MELANIA/USDT perpetual contracts with up to 25x leverage. Bybit launched the same offering but with up to 50x leverage.

These products allow traders to speculate on token prices without owning them and can be held indefinitely. They offer high reward potential but come with significant risks due to leverage and liquidation exposure.

Support from two of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges usually has a positive effect on the prices of the involved assets due to increased liquidity, improved accessibility, and boosted credibility.

Beware the Risks

MELANIAs pump might be pretty impressive, but investors should keep in mind the volatile nature of such tokens, hence the risks of devastating losses.

In addition, 88% of the meme coins total supply is held by a single wallet, which indicates a high concentration of ownership. Reduced decentralization makes such projects vulnerable to manipulation since the large holders can easily influence the market performance by dumping their holdings (for example). 

People are warned to jump on the bandwagon only after conducting proper research and invest only as much as they are ready to part with.