President of Argentina Faces Scandal Over $LIBRA Crypto Promotion
Argentinian President Javier Milei faces investigations and impeachment threats over his promotion of a cryptocurrency on social media.
The President’s Office said that Milei communicated about a memecoin, $LIBRA, on his X account on Feb. 14 but soon deleted the tweet.
The cryptocurrency’s full title and website are named after one of the President’s slogans, “Viva La Libertad”, and the project’s official website claims the token was created to honor Milei’s libertarian ideals.
The deletion of the tweet coincided with a drop in $LIBRA’s price and millions of dollars worth of investor losses, per an AP report, and Milei himself now faces a fraud lawsuit over what plaintiffs call a rug pull.
Milei could also face an impeachment trial in Congress led by the opposition, according to separate reports from Reuters.
Furthermore, Argentina’s Anti-Corruption Office (OA) will investigate whether Milei and other members of government took inappropriate actions, while a task force will investigate other parties involved with the token launch.
KIP Involvement Unclear
The President’s Office denied that Milei was directly involved in $LIBRA’s creation but admitted that he took part in two meetings.
Milei purportedly held an official, recorded meeting with members of KIP Protocol in October, where he was informed of a blockchain project called “Viva La Libertad.” Later, in January, Milei held a meeting with Kelsier Ventures CEO Hayden Mark Davis, who KIP Protocol supposedly had presented as a partner.
KIP Protocol countered several details put forward by the President’s Office. It claimed that the October meeting merely took place on the sidelines of a trade show and did not concern any specific initiatives, including $LIBRA or any token launch.
KIP Protocol added that it was unaware of and uninvolved in the January meeting. It denied that it presented Davis as a partner or employed him at any point.
Furthermore, KIP Protocol was unaware of the project that would become $LIBRA until Feb. 13 and was told that it would play a role after the launch. It stressed that it did not participate in the launch, nor did it receive tokens or earn profits.
Davis Defends $LIBRA Launch
Hayden Mark Davis, meanwhile, has denied that the project was a rug pull. He claims that he still holds $100 million for $LIBRA in his custody.
Davis made those comments in an interview with YouTube host Coffeezilla, where he also responded to criticism about his team’s use of a trading strategy called “sniping.” Davis said his team took that course of action to prevent bad actors from abusing the same strategy in order to manipulate $LIBRA’s price.
Davis faces additional controversy over an alleged payment to Milei’s sister to influence the President ahead of $LIBRA’s launch.
