Meteora, Kelsier Associates Sued; Court Freezes ~$168M

An amended class-action complaint filed in Hurlock v. Kelsier Ventures accuses Meteora co‑founder Benjamin Chow and Kelsier‑related defendants led by Hayden Davis — including Kelsier Ventures and members of the Davis family — of coordinating pump‑and‑dump schemes that launched at least 15 memecoins, including MELANIA and LIBRA, using celebrity‑linked promotions to lure buyers. Plaintiffs allege the defendants used a repeatable six‑step “playbook” and engineered on‑chain mechanics, including single‑sided liquidity pools and insider minting/transfers, to inflate prices and then sell into spikes, extracting roughly $107 million. Court filings say about 760 million LIBRA tokens (≈76% of supply) were shifted to insider wallets, and courts have frozen roughly $110 million in token proceeds and about $57.65 million in USDC tied to the alleged scheme. High‑profile social posts by figures such as First Lady Melania Trump and Argentina’s Javier Milei helped initial spikes but are described in filings as “window dressing” and are not named as defendants. Lawyers for investors are seeking class relief and say the case could set precedents for disclosure and token‑launch practices in the U.S.