In Argentina, the scandal surrounding the meme token LIBRA is attracting attention as prosecutor Eduardo Taiano requests the freezing of 100 million USD in cryptocurrency assets related to this project. This request comes along with the recovery of deleted social media posts, including a post by President Javier Milei promoting LIBRA on platform X (formerly Twitter).

LIBRA – From Market Frenzy to a Questionable Collapse

Last month, President Milei shared on X about #libra , calling it an investment opportunity that could help improve the Argentine economy by funding small businesses and startups. His tweet emphasized that "the world wants to invest in Argentina," creating a positive effect that caused the market capitalization of LIBRA to surge to 4.5 billion USD.

However, shortly after, this token plummeted sharply, raising suspicions that it could be a "pump and dump" scheme – manipulating the price for profit. When LIBRA collapsed, some wallets holding a large portion of the token supply quickly liquidated their assets. Among them, Hayden Davis – a crypto entrepreneur from Kelsier – admitted that he made 100 million USD from this project.

After this event, President Milei deleted his tweet promoting LIBRA, but this could not prevent fraud allegations aimed at him. Prosecutor Taiano is currently pushing for the investigation, requesting international exchanges, law enforcement agencies, and regulators to cooperate in freezing the funds related to LIBRA.

President Milei and the Cryptocurrency Scandals

Although he has always been supported by libertarians and the Bitcoin community for government spending cuts and inflation control, Mr. Milei does not frequently mention Bitcoin. This is not the first time this president has been embroiled in controversies related to cryptocurrency. Before taking office, in 2022, #Milei was sued by investors for promoting a cryptocurrency platform called CoinX, which was accused of making unrealistic profit promises.

Broader Context: Meme Coin and Politicians

Not only in Argentina, but meme coins are increasingly becoming a controversial topic as many politicians are also involved with them. In the US, former President #DonaldTrump and his wife Melania also launched their own digital tokens – $TRUMP and MELANIA – before his inauguration on January 20. Both of these tokens tend to have volatile prices, surging sharply in a short time before dropping significantly.

Conclusion

The investigation into LIBRA continues to raise questions about the transparency and accountability of leaders participating in the cryptocurrency market. Although there has been no final conclusion, this scandal could affect President Milei's reputation and impact public trust in crypto projects in Argentina. As meme coins continue to attract widespread interest, this event once again highlights the potential risks of highly speculative digital assets.