$4B LIBRA Memecoin Scandal: Argentina President Milei Found Innocent, But Legal Battle Isn’t Over

Key Insights

• Argentina's Anti-Corruption Office has cleared President Javier Milei of wrongdoing in the LIBRA memecoin scandal.
• The LIBRA token jumped to a $4 billion market cap after Milei's endorsement but then plummeted 94% within hours.
• The Anti-Corruption Office pointed out that Milei's X account is personal and not an institutional government platform.
• Critics, including opposition lawmakers, are still unconvinced by the clearance and allege a cover-up.
• International legal action continues to add pressure to the investigation into fraud.

Argentina’s Anti-Corruption Office has just ruled President Milei innocent.

According to the reports from the investigation surrounding the LIBRA memecoin scandal, Milei merely acted in a personal capacity when endorsing the LIBRA token.

So far, the Argentine president has been cleared of any intentional wrongdoing. However, the public is not so convinced.

The LIBRA Token Surge and Collapse

The scandal started on 14 February, when Argentina’s President Javier Milei made a post on his personal X account.

Within the post, Milei endorsed a new cryptocurrency called LIBRA. The token quickly surged to a market cap of over $4 billion on this endorsement.

However, just as quickly as it surged, the token quickly plummeted and dropped nearly 94% in value within mere hours.

Many suffered heavy losses, and opposition parties accused Milei of fueling a pump-and-dump scheme. Some even demanded his impeachment.

Local media dubbed the scandal “Cryptogate,” and lawsuits started to pile up.

Within these lawsuits, critics alleged that Milei misled the public into investing in a poorly vetted token.

Official Clearance by Anti-Corruption Office

Fast forward to June, Argentina’s Anti-Corruption Office (OA) concluded its investigation into the matter.

The agency stated in a formal resolution that Milei did not violate any federal ethics laws.

The investigation shows that Milei was acting in a personal capacity when he posted about the LIBRA token, not as a representative of the government.

The OA emphasized that Milei’s X account has long been used for political commentary and personal expression since 2015, which was years before his presidency.

The account, according to the OA, does not serve an institutional role, and no public resources were used in the post.

“These characteristics of the personal account on the social network X are typical of any citizen who publicly expresses their political ideas,” the OA stated in its report.

In short, the office found no misuse of power, no allocation of government funds, and no indication that the post represented official policy.

Milei Was Just “Spreading the Word”

Throughout the investigation, Milei has maintained his innocence. He denies promoting LIBRA for personal gain or government agenda and has stated that he was merely "spreading the word" about a new financial tool that he believed could benefit small businesses in Argentina.

Despite deleting the original post after the token’s crash, Milei was proactive in calling for an investigation.

On 19 May, weeks before the OA’s report was released, Milei’s administration signed a decree that dissolved a special task force set up to investigate the LIBRA scandal.

Government officials claimed the unit had completed its work and passed on findings to the federal public prosecutor.

Critics, however aren’t buying it. Opposition lawmakers argue that the task force never truly investigated the scandal.

“It was always a fake, they never dared to investigate anything at all,” said Itai Hagman, an economist and member of Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies, in a May 20 post on X. “They’re covering each other up because they’re completely up to their necks in it.”

Even though the OA has cleared Milei for all intents and purposes, the scandal is far from over.

A federal criminal court continues to investigate, and lawsuits have been filed in multiple countries.

International Legal Action

Legal trouble has expanded beyond Argentina’s borders. For example, a U.S. federal court recently intervened by freezing wallets holding over $58 million in USDC stablecoin.

These wallets were linked to Hayden Davis, one of the biggest figures behind the LIBRA token.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York is now looking into parts of the case, especially those affecting plaintiffs from the United States and the United Kingdom.

This international reach of this case has so far added new pressure to find out whether fraudulent activity was involved in the token’s promotion and collapse.

Interestingly, Davis is reported to have met Milei on January 30, two weeks before the infamous post.

However, the OA report insists that Davis “had and has no ties to the Argentine government.”

Instead, he was reportedly introduced to Milei by members of the KIP Protocol, one of LIBRA’s partner organizations.

Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, but it will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.