In a shocking turn of events, Argentine President Javier Milei has found himself embroiled in controversy over the Libra crypto scandal. The president had promoted the asset tied to the Viva la libertad project on social media, sparking a buying frenzy, only to delete the promotional post later which caused the value of the cryptocurrency to plummet. Despite the leader of La Libertad Avanza insisting that his involvement was selfless and in good faith, the opposition is calling for his impeachment, accusing Milei of fraud and what socialist deputy Esteban Paulón has labeled as “an unprecedented scandal.”
In his message on X, Instagram, and Facebook, posted at market close, Milei “sponsored” Libra, presenting it as a crypto part of “an ecosystem to finance Argentine startups and SMEs.” The endorsement caused the token’s price to surge by 1,200%, from 0.000001 to 5.20 dollars in 40 minutes with a trading volume reaching 1.1 billion, resulting in a market capitalization of 4.4 billion. However, a few hours after the post was published, the president deleted it, leading to a 95% drop in the asset’s value. Now, there are 250 million dollars in losses, with investors, consumer associations, and NGOs ready to sue the head of state for conspiracy, fraud, scam, and violations of official duties.
Heading:
- What is Libra, the Argentine crypto, and what is its purpose
- Who is behind the scandalous meme coin
- Milei’s reaction and Kelsier’s proposal
What is Libra, the Argentine crypto, and what is its purpose
Launched on February 14, 2025, Libra (symbol $LIBRA) is a kind of political meme coin built on the Solana blockchain as an integral part of the Viva la libertad project, a platform (the website domain was registered the day before the launch) that aims to “boost the Argentine economy by financing small projects and local businesses, supporting those who seek to grow their companies and contribute to the country’s development.” Viva la libertad targets small and medium enterprises, startups, talent incubators, and educational initiatives. “Every Argentine with an idea or project can apply for funding,” reads the portal.
The name, previously used by Meta’s cryptocurrency, was chosen in this case “in honor of Javier Milei’s libertarian ideas.” Libra is presented as the crypto “designed to strengthen the Argentine economy from the ground up, supporting entrepreneurship and innovation.” Little is known about its tokenomics, except that 50% of the tokens are allocated for the “growth of Argentina,” 30% for liquidity, and 20% as reserves. There are no further details on the overall project and the cryptocurrency. Within hours of Milei’s deleted tweet, Libra lost all its value, but generated huge profits, amounting to 286 million dollars, for the few insiders (the nine founding wallets linked to the launch) who bought the token when it was worth nothing to resell it at record prices before its value crashed.
Who is behind the scandalous meme coin
The Viva la libertad platform was developed by Kip Protocol, a Panamanian company active since 2019 in the field of artificial intelligence and data analysis. The Kip protocol underpins mission-critical infrastructures and pipelines for AI application developers who need to distribute, connect, and monetize AI resources in the Web3. The CEO of the company is Singaporean Julian Peh, an entrepreneur with twenty years of experience in the technology sector. The AI technology lead is Jennifer Dodgson, previously the founder of Daobi and CEO of Eigenform.
Kelsier Ventures, a company that supports Web3 projects from ideation to market debut, was responsible for the launch of Libra, led by American CEO Hayden Mark Davis, about whom little is known. Two other individuals connected to Libra are Argentinians Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy, the organizers of the Tech Forum in Buenos Aires. Following the scandal, the Argentine government issued an official statement attempting to clarify the situation and distancing itself from the developers. However, Kip Protocol denied any involvement and especially that Peh had ever met Milei in multiple meetings to discuss blockchain projects and technologies for launching tokens and funding private initiatives.
Milei’s reaction and Kelsier’s proposal
Crushed by what is locally called the “crypto scandal,” Argentine Prime Minister Milei described Libra as “a privately initiated project with which I obviously have no connection.” After claiming not to be truly aware of how the operation worked and deleting the supportive post for that reason, Milei stated in an interview with Todo Noticias channel that all investors who participated in the crypto trading “did so voluntarily.” “If you go to the casino and lose money, what’s the complaint if you knew it had these characteristics? It’s a private matter, the State has no responsibility here,” he added.
Milei announced the creation of a task force tasked with identifying the true culprits behind the launch of Libra. Kelsier Ventures and Kip Protocol, on the other hand, reached an agreement to find a solution to the problem. The Sol tokens collected will be “reinjected into the market and the liquidity pool.” The fees resulting from the launch will be allocated to an Argentine foundation, which will be newly established and will work as per the project to support the national economy. There are no references to any compensation for those who lost the funds invested in purchasing the token. Meanwhile, Bubblemaps website has revealed a link between the launchers of Libra and the team behind Official Melania Meme, the second meme coin in the Trump family.
During an interview with cryptocurrency journalist Coffeezilla, Hayden Davis confirmed his involvement in the launch of $MELANIA and other meme coins like In Memes We Trust ($TRUST) and Robinhood ($HOOD). Moreover, in a post on X, Davies introduced himself as a “consultant” to Milei, accused the Argentine president and his colleagues of “withdrawing their support” from the project “despite previous commitments” (according to US analyst Nick O’Neill, the prime minister had been working on the launch for weeks) and promised to collect as many dollars as possible to “reinject” them into Libra.
The search for the truth about what happened is now entrusted to the Uti (Unidad de tareas de investigación), a new department tasked with investigating what CoinDesk has called “the biggest and fastest wealth destruction in market history.” Additionally, former federal prosecutor Tim Treanor is preparing a class action lawsuit for fraud and market manipulation to be filed in New York, while prosecutor Eduardo Taiano and federal judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado are investigating Milei’s and his closest aides’ assets. In the meantime, under the orders of the US District Courts, Circle has frozen 57 million dollars linked to the Libra launch on the Solana network.
