Trump Team Receives $4.2 Million Airdrop from Meteora Amid Legal Troubles

Meteora Gave Trump Team $4.2M Airdrop Hours After Founder Sued for Memecoin Scams

Meteora gifted the Trump team a $4.2 million airdrop of $MET tokens shortly after allegations surfaced against its co-founder, Benjamin Chow, for running scams involving various memecoins. The situation raises questions about the connection between the Trump family and crypto ventures, especially given the timing of the airdrop and its ties to ongoing legal actions.

Key Takeaways

The Trump team received a $4.2 million airdrop from Meteora just hours after the lawsuit against Chow.
Benjamin Chow is accused of conducting pump-and-dump schemes with celebrity endorsements.
The airdropped $MET tokens were quickly transferred to an exchange, likely for cashing out.
The lawsuit seeks to recoup funds lost by investors and appoint an independent receiver for Meteora.
The Trump family has made substantial profits from various crypto-related ventures in the past year.

Airdrop Controversy Unfolds

Three addresses connected to the Trump team received a $4.2 million airdrop of $MET tokens from Meteora shortly after Chow was sued in a federal class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses Chow of executing pump-and-dump schemes utilizing endorsements from figures such as Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei, potentially defrauding retail investors of over $57 million.

Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics firm, revealed that these addresses belonged to the developer of the TRUMP token and two others that provided significant liquidity on the token’s launch day. Surprisingly, the trio transferred the full airdrop amount to the OKX exchange almost immediately, indicating a possible intent to cash out rapidly.

The Connection Between Meteora and Trump Ventures

The allegations against Chow detail how he allegedly exploited celebrity endorsements to manipulate prices across various tokens, including $M3M3, $LIBRA, $MELANIA, $ENRON, and $TRUST. The lawsuit not only seeks a return of profits but also demands increased compensatory damages under RICO statutes and the appointment of an independent receiver to oversee Meteora’s smart-contract programs.

Investigation shows that wallets involved in providing liquidity for the $MELANIA token were qualified to receive $MET airdrops, with three out of four liquidity provider wallets successfully receiving tokens. This token is tied to the same developers as $LIBRA, which faced a crash following President Milei’s withdrawal of support.

Interestingly, other tokens associated with alleged fraud, such as $AIAI and $M3M3, were excluded from the airdrop distribution.

Patterns of Alleged Fraud Across Tokens

The lawsuit reveals a systematic approach to creating hype around new tokens by borrowing fame and then executing trades through funded accounts manipulated by insiders. This culminated in price spikes that allowed for strategic liquidations, quickly draining liquidity from investors.

Just hours post-launch, the deployer wallet pulled over $110 million in USDC stablecoin liquidity, resulting in an immediate collapse in token value, coinciding with Milei’s withdrawal of endorsement. For instance, the value of the $MELANIA token plummeted from $13.73 to $0.095, wiping out billions in market equity and dropping over 99% from its peak value.

A forensic analysis uncovered a key coordinating wallet beginning with 0xcEA, which consistently funded deployer wallets, created tokens, and financed accounts to capture early supply.

Kelsier Ventures CEO Hayden Davis, co-founder of both $LIBRA and $MELANIA, acknowledged in an interview that they had to “snipe our own coin” to prevent outside investors from gaining an advantage.

Trump Crypto Gains Reach $1 Billion

Over the past year, the Trump family has reportedly earned approximately $1 billion in pre-tax profits from various crypto activities, including memecoins and DeFi platforms. The $TRUMP and $MELANIA tokens accounted for about $427 million, while sales from World Liberty Financial tokens garnered around $550 million. Additionally, the stablecoin project named USD1 raised $2.71 billion, with significant funding provided by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund-backed MGX.

The $4.2 million airdrop to Trump-affiliated addresses occurred just hours after President Trump granted a pardon to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, stirring speculation about future pardons for other crypto industry figures facing legal hurdles. Observers are now questioning if Chow could also receive similar treatment despite the serious allegations against him.

After all this, Chow resigned from Meteora in February 2025, following the fallout from the $LIBRA scandal. Jupiter co-founder Meow suggested that Chow demonstrated “a lack of judgment and care” in his decisions. A leaked video showed Chow expressing distress over Davis’ actions, admitting to feeling responsible for enabling misconduct.

The lawsuit further claims that Kelsier Labs had a hidden agreement to invest around $2 million into Meteora's operations as a means of gaining influence, with whistleblower messages confirming that Davis acted under Chow’s guidance across more than 15 token launches.