Co-Founder of Crypto Firm Behind Trump, Melania Tokens Resigns Amid Insider Trading Allegations

Ben Chow, co-founder of Meteora—the Solana-based platform behind the controversial Trump and Melania token launches—has resigned following insider buying and selling allegations which have surfaced after the collapse of LIBRA token, a crypto initially backed by Argentine President Javier Milei whose worth plummeted over 90% inside hours of its launch.

Meow, the pseudonymous co-founder of each Meteora and Jupiter alternate, confirmed in a tweet on Monday that Ben’s resignation got here following his lack of judgment as a mission lead previously few months.

Neither Chow nor Meow have responded to Decrypt’s requests for remark.

The LIBRA token’s collapse has cranked up insider buying and selling accusations, with on-chain analysts pointing to suspicious pockets exercise and the potential involvement of insiders dumping tokens on the asset’s worth peak. 

Amid the allegations, platforms resembling Meteora, which supplied technical help for the token launch, acquired caught within the crossfire.

With the agency now in search of new management, Chow’s exit has raised questions concerning the ethics surrounding high-profile token launches and their far-reaching affect on crypto.

Within the wake of the allegations, Meow clarified his firms’ stance, noting neither Jupiter nor Meteora have been concerned in insider buying and selling or monetary misconduct. 

Jupiter has beforehand acknowledged whereas the launch of an “Argentina Coin” had been “an open secret” inside meme coin circles, nobody at Jupiter knew the specifics prematurely.

Meteora had been reportedly working independently of Jupiter for over a yr, with Ben operating the agency with out important involvement from Meow. 

Chow has not but launched an official assertion, however he beforehand addressed the controversy on X, providing his facet of the story. 

In a collection of tweets on Saturday, he initially explained that Meteora’s involvement within the LIBRA launch was restricted to offering technical help.

“The $LIBRA staff used Meteora, which is a permission-less platform,” the Meteora co-founder tweeted. “We by no means had any entry to the tokens or to Milei.” 

He clarified Meteora didn’t play a job within the launch decision-making or market-making actions, because the platform permits anybody to create swimming pools and tokens with out direct involvement from the Meteora staff.

Nonetheless, Ben later backtracked on his preliminary tweet, acknowledging that questions had arisen concerning Meteora’s function within the launch of LIBRA and different tokens. 

Chow defined his relationship with Hayden Davis of Kelsier Ventures, who was concerned within the launch of the LIBRA, TRUMP, and MELANIA meme coins. 

“I referred them [Hayden Davis] to a handful of different initiatives that had inquired with us about deployer companies, which included the staff behind $MELANIA,” Ben wrote. 

He reportedly referred Kelsier Ventures to different initiatives and stated that their relationship was constructed on mutual belief developed throughout the profitable launch of the M3M3 token in December. 

In response to group backlash, Meow introduced plans for an unbiased third-party investigation. They’re in search of to rent California-based regulation agency Fenwick & West to deal with the allegations and promote transparency.

Chow’s resignation has been met with blended reactions, with some help from figures resembling Kash Dhandha, a founding member of Tremendous Crew DAO and a ‘Cat Herder’ at Jupiter, who defended him as a sufferer of “strategic errors” quite than misconduct.

LIBRA noticed its market cap surge to $4 billion earlier than plummeting by 91%, fueling suspicions of market manipulation.

The fallout from LIBRA continues to shadow Milei, who now faces impeachment calls and authorized motion accusing him of fraud over his promotion of the token.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair