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Argentina President Javier Milei has denied allegations that he actively promoted the memecoin $LIBRA.
In a recent interview, Milei stated that shared information about $LIBRA in good faith, believing it could benefit Argentine entrepreneurs.
“I shared this the same way I’ve shared hundreds of things,” he explained, emphasizing that his message was one of disseminating information not endorsement.
Milei acknowledged the fallout as a "slap in the face" and a learning experience but downplayed the impact on Argentine investors while claiming that the majority of those affected were from the U.S. and China.
“Did the State lose money? No. Did Argentinians lose money? Maybe four or five at most,” he said. 40,000 investors were reportedly impacted but Milei disputed this figure, stating that only about 5,000 participated. He also argued that most traders were experienced in volatile markets and understood the risks.
On Friday, Milei posted on X about $LIBRA, highlighting its potential of “encouraging economic growth by funding small businesses and startups.”
Blockhead
Hours later, Milei deleted the post and the token's value plummeted, causing millions of dollars in losses. The President's Office issued a statement on the following day, claiming the post was deleted to “avoid speculation and limit further exposure” following public reaction to the project’s launch, and that Milei was not involved in the cryptocurrency's development.
Milei’s connection to $LIBRA stems from his meetings with Hayden Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures, the market maker behind the token. According to reports, Davis met with Milei at least ten times since October 2024.
“Davis proposed that I create a structure that funds projects for Argentine entrepreneurs,” Milei explained. “My fanaticism for technology made me spread the word as soon as it was made public.”
In an interview with Coffeezilla, Davis dismissed complaints as stemming from investors who were frustrated about missing out on insider deals.
“All the bitching on socials is all the people that don’t get into the deals,” Davis said. “So what do you do then? You don’t launch the project? How do you make money then?”
Blockchain analysts have linked $LIBRA’s insiders to other controversial projects, including Melania Trump’s $MELANIA token, raising alarms about coordinated trading practices.
"It all started when we investigated sniper activity on MELANIA," explained Bubblemaps. "One address stood out: P5tb4, which made over $2.4M... This address sent all the profits to 0xcEA, a wallet linked to the creator of MELANIA."
"There are multiple ways to connect 0xcEA with the creator of MELANIA, through funding txs and cross-chain transfers.... This means the creator of Melania—or someone close to their team—sniped their own launch... Weeks later, we noticed that 0xcEA is funding DEfcyK, the creator of $LIBRA Yes, the same creator of LIBRA who cashed out $87M"
1/ How $LIBRA was created by the same team behind MELANIA and other short-lived coins
— Bubblemaps (@bubblemaps) February 17, 2025
Featuring new onchain evidence
A thread with Coffeezilla 🧵 ↓ pic.twitter.com/gNwj97KapF
Davis told Coffeezilla that his team bought LIBRA and MELANIA tokens immediately after launching them.
“When we’re sniping, we’re attempting to avoid other snipers getting in,” Davis said. “A lot of times it’s to protect — and if there’s enough volume — to take some off so people can have a chance to pump the chart back up.”
Davis also admitted that he removed roughly $100 million from the LIBRA liquidity pool and is in control of the funds.
In the wake of the scandal, Argentina’s stock market took a hit, with the S&P Merval dropping over 5% when markets opened on Monday.
