Argentine President Javier Milei has denied allegations that he promoted the LIBRA memecoin, which recently experienced a dramatic surge followed by a crash, leaving investors with significant losses.
Addressing the controversy, as reported by tier10k on X, Milei clarified that he merely shared information about the token and never encouraged anyone to invest. He downplayed its impact on Argentina, stating that only a handful of local investors, around four or five, were affected. At the same time, most of those caught in the crash were traders from China and the United States.
Challenging reports that 44,000 investors suffered losses, Milei asserted that the number was closer to 5,000. He emphasized that most were experienced traders who fully understood the risks involved. He said the LIBRA incident was strictly a private financial matter and had no connection to the government.
Milei: I didn’t promote it, I shared it.
“I acted in good faith and took a hit,”
“Did the State lose money? No. Did Argentinians lose money? Maybe four or five at most. The vast majority of investors are Chinese and American.”
“I shared this the same way I’ve shared hundreds…
— db (@tier10k) February 17, 2025
Milei says he took a leap of faith with the coin
Further clarifying, Milei explained that Hayden Davis, one of LIBRA’s creators, had proposed a financing structure to support entrepreneurs struggling due to Argentina’s informal economy. He viewed the initiative as a positive development and claimed he only helped spread awareness without directly endorsing the token.
Despite defending his actions, Milei acknowledged the political backlash from the controversy. Reflecting on the situation, he admitted that he had learned valuable lessons about navigating public scrutiny as president.
Adding to the controversy, Jupiter revealed on February 17 that some of its team members had prior knowledge of a potential Argentina-linked token but lacked specific details, such as its timing or contract address. They learned about the project two weeks earlier from Kelsier Ventures, which confirmed Milei’s involvement. The team denied insider trading allegations, stressing they did not receive $LIBRA tokens or compensation. Jupiter clarified that they had not pre-verified the contract address and only listed $LIBRA after public confirmation and sufficient market volume. By then, the token’s market capitalization had surged to approximately $1.5 billion.
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New Evidence Has Increased Scrutiny
In 2026, investigators obtained phone records and other material showing communications between Milei and Mauricio Novelli, an entrepreneur who has been identified as a key figure in the LIBRA investigation. Court documents reported in April showed multiple calls between Milei and Novelli around the time of the token’s launch.
Separately, a document recovered from a lobbyist’s phone reportedly described a proposed three-part payment arrangement worth $5 million that investigators are examining in connection with the promotion of LIBRA. The document was dated February 11, 2025, three days before Milei’s social media post. The reported existence of the document does not by itself establish that Milei received or agreed to such a payment.
Those developments have intensified questions about how much the president knew about the project before publicly promoting it. Milei has not been found guilty of fraud or other crimes in connection with LIBRA, and the investigation remains ongoing.
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