A new class-action lawsuit filed in the United States accuses Meteora founder Benjamin Chou of orchestrating a fraudulent memecoin scheme that allegedly leveraged the public profiles of Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei to appear legitimate.
According to court filings in Hurlock v. Kelsier Ventures, Chou is described as “the central figure” in a network that coordinated the launch and sale of multiple digital tokens. These coins reportedly surged shortly after release — only to crash to near zero once developers drained the liquidity pools.
Celebrities Used as “Legitimacy Props”
The plaintiffs allege that high-profile individuals such as Melania Trump and Javier Milei were used as marketing “props” to lend credibility to the tokens.
The MELANIA token launched in January 2025 — just two days after the debut of the Donald Trump token — but lost 99% of its value within weeks.
A similar fate struck LIBRA, the token publicly endorsed by Milei as a project to “support small businesses” in Argentina. LIBRA collapsed by more than 90% within hours of its peak.
Tracing the Scheme
Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps discovered that wallets linked to the launches of both MELANIA and LIBRA were interconnected and tied to Meteora’s infrastructure. This finding prompted a collective lawsuit against Chou, Hayden Davis, and Kelsier Ventures, alleging coordinated price manipulation across at least 15 memecoins.
The complaint further claims that Chou operated through trusted intermediaries, including Meteora co-founder Ming Yeo and members of the Davis family, who allegedly executed a series of “pump-and-dump” launches using a common template.
Court Developments and Legal Outlook
In August 2025, a U.S. judge unfroze $57.6 million in assets tied to the LIBRA project, noting that the likelihood of the lawsuit’s success appeared “low.” Chou reportedly left Meteora in February and has declined to comment on the allegations.
However, lawyers representing the plaintiffs insist they possess direct evidence of his involvement, including Telegram correspondence linking him to the token management operations.
The case underscores growing scrutiny of memecoin promotions involving celebrities and political figures — a trend that has increasingly drawn attention from U.S. regulators and investors alike.
