Members of Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies have initiated an inquiry into President Javier Milei’s purported connection to the Libra (LIBRA) cryptocurrency scandal.
As reported on April 8, deputies in the lower house voted 128 in favor, 93 against, with seven abstentions. This proposal had previously failed to advance in the Senate.
This development comes after Milei promoted the LIBRA memecoin across his social media platforms. Leveraging his position as president and his 3.8 million followers, the token surged to $5, briefly achieving a market cap of $4 billion.
Since then, Milei has been accused of misconduct, with critics asserting that LIBRA was a rug-pull scam designed to ensnare investors. Legal representatives Jonatan Baldiviezo, along with Marcos Zelaya, engineer María Eva Koutsovitis, and economist Claudio Lozano, a former head of Argentina’s central bank, have filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of fraud.
Related: KIP Protocol discloses involvement in Libra rug pull endorsed by Javier Milei
A disaster of presidential proportions
Baldiviezo claims that Milei’s endorsement was crucial to an “illicit association” with the cryptocurrency promoters. The NGO Observatorio del Derecho a la Ciudad has echoed these concerns, launching a case that alleges the president’s promotion led to over 40,000 investors losing upwards of $4 billion.
Data from February revealed that investors affected by the LIBRA memecoin’s pump-and-dump scheme collectively suffered losses of $251 million. Blockchain analysis indicated that among the 15,430 wallets that traded with profits or losses exceeding $1,000, over 86% sold at a loss, culminating in a total loss of $251 million.
In mid-February, despite numerous posts supporting his claims, Milei refuted the allegations of promoting LIBRA, stating:
“I did not promote that. What I did was spread the word.”
Related: Javier Milei faces potential impeachment after endorsing $107M Libra rug pull
An alleged family business connection
One of the individuals behind the contentious Libra crypto token reportedly sent a message bragging about the ability to pay the sister of President Javier Milei in exchange for a social media endorsement of the memecoin. Reports from February mentioned Hayden Davis, linked to the project, communicating with an executive from a crypto investment firm about compensating Karina Milei for “control” over her brother, the president:
“We can also have Milei tweet and meet in person and promote. […] I send $$ to his sister, and he does whatever I say and does what I want.”
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