A recent class action lawsuit has emerged, targeting Benjamin Chow, the founder of the crypto project Meteora. The lawsuit alleges that Chow masterminded the launches of two controversial meme coins, LIBRA and MELANIA, which were promoted by high-profile figures—First Lady Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei. However, the plaintiffs assert that these prominent personalities should not be held liable for any alleged fraud linked to the tokens, arguing instead that Chow was the “center of the enterprise.”
The legal filings, part of the case Hurlock v. Kelsier Ventures, allege that Chow, along with collaborators such as Hayden Davis and the Kelsier Ventures team, engineered a series of deceptive token launches. The lawsuit highlights that both the MELANIA token, associated with Melania Trump, and the LIBRA coin, promoted by Milei, experienced dramatic price surges immediately after their launch, only to plummet shortly afterward.
According to court documents, the complaint describes a communication strategy that leveraged the credibility of well-known public figures to lend legitimacy to what they refer to as a “coordinated liquidity trap.” The plaintiffs contend that both Trump and Milei were simply “window dressing” for a scheme orchestrated by Chow and Kelsier Ventures, which was allegedly designed to execute “pump-and-dump” strategies.
Melania Trump’s MELANIA coin was launched in January, just two days after President Trump introduced his own official token. Initially gaining rapid popularity, the value of MELANIA plummeted by 99% in the following months, with claims that the team silently offloaded their holdings. Similarly, Milei’s LIBRA token was billed as a vehicle for funding small businesses in Argentina. After enjoying a stark rise in value, it fell nearly 90% in a matter of hours, prompting Milei to delete promotional posts.
The class action cites on-chain analytics from Bubblemaps, which revealed suspicious connections between the wallets used in the launches of both tokens, linking them to a larger fraudulent operation. Chow is accused of being the mastermind behind an array of token launches, with the current suit specifically detailing five launched tokens.
The complaint states that Chow built up a small, trusted team, involving individuals such as Ng Ming Yeow, a co-founder of Meteora, and members of the Davis family, who acted through Kelsier Ventures. These individuals reportedly collaborated under Chow’s direction to execute the fraud, launching and marketing at least 15 tokens following a similar pattern.
In light of these allegations, Chow resigned from his position at Meteora in February as scrutiny over the meme coin launches intensified. Attempts to reach Chow for comments were unsuccessful. In contrast, after the LIBRA collapse, Hayden Davis, who leads Kelsier Ventures, engaged in several interviews but is now described in the complaint as having launched at least 15 tokens based on Chow’s guidance.
Additionally, legal proceedings have seen a judge order the unfreezing of $57.6 million in USDC related to the LIBRA coin, expressing skepticism about the plaintiffs’ chances of succeeding in their case. Kelsier Ventures has not provided a response to inquiries regarding the ongoing situation.
