In a mind-blowing interview with Coffeezilla, Kelsier’s Hayden Davis, the self-proclaimed launch strategist behind multiple political meme coin launches, openly admitted to insider trading, sniper wallets, and market manipulation—implicating presidents Donald Trump and Javier Milei as well as First Lady Melania Trump.
He detailed how meme coins like LIBRA were rigged from the start, how insiders had pre-launch access to tokens, and how every major launch was nothing more than a calculated financial game. “This is an insiders’ game. It’s an unregulated casino,” Hayden said, confirming that early buyers at a private dinner in Washington, D.C., were given access to Trump’s token before the public.
“I thought some of these meme coins could turn into something real,” Hayden added. “But the reality is, it’s just a game. The people who know how to play win. The rest lose.” Mind you this is the guy who launched the $LIBRA token that wiped $4.6 billion from the market in six hours.
Can you spot the difference?@JMilei @realDonaldTrump @nayibbukele pic.twitter.com/svYYJlKkBz
— El Triple Maxi (@jfonseca81) February 16, 2025
Trump’s meme coin was rigged from day one
Hayden shared that before Trump’s token launch, a small group of investors were granted exclusive pre-sale access at a valuation of $500 million. According to him, these buyers were let in before the contract address was made public, so that they could purchase at rock-bottom prices before the retail frenzy.
“They gave people special access to buy in before it launched,” Hayden said. “That’s what I was told.” When pressed on where this happened, he named Washington, D.C., as the location where the deal allegedly took place.
Melania’s token, Hayden admitted, followed the same playbook. He was directly involved in the launch and confirmed that his team sniped it. The goal, according to him, was to counteract external snipers, but in reality, it meant insiders once again took the best entry positions before the public.
“We weren’t the big sniper,” Hayden said. “That’s what we were trying to avoid.” But on-chain data tells a different story. A wallet tied to his operation received $1.5 million worth of Melania’s token from an address labeled ‘Melania D Liquidity 2.0.’ The tokens were then dumped, crushing the price and leaving retail investors with massive losses.
How sniping and insider deals keep the market rigged
Hayden’s interview confirmed what most crypto traders already suspected—every major meme coin launch is manipulated from the beginning. He described how bot-driven sniping ensures that insiders always have the best entry positions, while regular buyers get in at inflated prices.
“Every single meme coin launch gets sniped,” Hayden admitted. “A handful of elite traders figure out how to extract liquidity before the public even has a chance.” He also said that early contract leaks play a huge role in this system. Private groups pay for access to pre-launch addresses, so they can front-run the market before the token even goes live.
Hayden confirmed that it happens across the entire industry, from Solana-based launches to Binance Smart Chain projects. “This is the conversation that goes on with everybody,” he said. “Everybody that knows how these launches work, that’s the conversation.”
“The people with the most money, the most access, and the most control always win,” Hayden told Coffeezilla. “They never lose.” He acknowledged that meme coins are a zero-sum game, where one trader’s gain is another trader’s loss.
Crypto community reacts to Hayden’s interview
The community’s reaction to Hayden’s interview has been hilarious. ZachXBT, the prominent on-chain detective, tweeted, “Does not sound like Hayden from Kelsier consulted a lawyer before doing this interview, which is kind of wild. Nonetheless, makes for hilarious content.”
Coffeezilla himself said after the interview, “Memecoins are wealth redistribution tools to move money from the public to presale, outsiders to insiders, and degens to developers. Don’t waste your life making some KOL dork rich.” Ouch.
One response to Coffeezilla’s tweet took a direct jab at the term “developer,” saying, “Calling memes deployers ‘Developers,’ you’re insulting everyone who actually knows a programming language in the world.”
Another user said, “The Coffeezilla and $LIBRA interview is just 1 hour 11 minutes of the $LIBRA dev admitting to like 13 international financial crimes which can get you decades in jail.”
For some, the tone of the reactions is more sinister. One user bluntly said, “This Hayden kid is absolutely f*cked. At worst case, decades in prison are guaranteed. Not sure why he’s doing this publicity tour. I pray for his safety.” Now check out the short clip below and you’ll see what he means.
Meanwhile, the legal jeopardy Hayden now faces is a central topic of conversation. Another user commented, “He is holding 100m of liquidity for $LIBRA. I would think his only option would be to put it in; otherwise, he is just stealing that. It seems like he was going to, but got caught by the people you don’t want to mess with probably. So now it is the ‘teams’ money that was in his personal wallet.”
One user posted, “Ahahahahahaha. This is Milei’s second rug he ‘accidentally’ promoted on social media. He promoted CoinX (a Ponzi) in 2021 while Senator. What a complete and utter disgrace for a head of state.”
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