Longtime cryptocurrency advocate and the President of one of the largest countries in the American Continent—Javier Milei is facing accusations of pulling one of the (alleged) largest rug pulls in history.
Earlier this week, Milei’s official Twitter account announced the launch of a new memecoin, inspired by Donald Trump’s $TRUMP and $MELANIA’s success. The cryptocurrency in question was named LIBRA.
In the now-deleted post, Milei praised the new crypto project, while weirdly making sure to name it a “private project”. He also claimed Libra would help the Argentine economy, as well as empower small businesses in the region.
“This private project will be dedicated to incentivizing the growth of the Argentine economy by funding small businesses and Argentine ventures,” Milei wrote. “The world wants to invest in Argentina.”
The fact that a new cryptocurrency project could be linked to the economic growth of the 23rd largest economy in the world by GDP caused investors to jump ship on $LIBRA. However, this positive optimism was short-lived.
Libra began rapidly gaining weight as investors rushed to get a hold of the new token. The cryptocurrency reached a market capitalization of almost $5 billion in only a couple of hours before it began mysteriously dumping in value.
As of right now, Libra’s market cap is at less than $150,000, a 97% decrease in just 24 hours.
Milei Rushes to Defend Himself
After the backlash, Milei went back to Twitter to try and explain how he had no knowledge or participation in the Libra token launch.
“A few hours ago I posted a tweet, like so many other countless times, supporting an alleged private venture with which I obviously have no connection,” Milei wrote. “I was not familiar with the details of the project and after becoming familiar with them, I decided not to continue promoting it (which is why I deleted the tweet).”
In typical Milei style, the President also complained about how his political opposition, which he compared to “dirty rats,” is trying to use this situation to damage his reputation. He expressed frustration over what he perceived as a concerted effort by his opponents to undermine his administration and discredit his achievements.
Milei Could be Investigated
A report from the Brazilian news portal “G1” highlights how the President could find itself the target of an investigation for potential participation in the $LIBRA dump.
There are increasing calls for a formal investigation into the incident, spearheaded by opposition leaders. Senator Martín Lousteau of the UCR has pointed out that this is not the first time Milei has faced allegations involving cryptocurrency.
Back in 2021, Milei, then a deputy, endorsed the CoinX platform, which promised high returns and is now under scrutiny for potential fraud. Similarly, Civic Coalition Deputy Maximiliano Ferraro has voiced concerns, describing the $LIBRA situation as a speculative maneuver that could have leveraged the President’s political influence and privileged information.
Ferraro has suggested that Congress form a special committee to investigate the matter thoroughly, ensuring transparency and accountability.
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