Argentina’s President Javier Milei initially promoted the Libra memecoin, claiming the money raised will help small and medium businesses in the country|Vox Espana|Public domain
Argentinian President Javier Milei is caught in a legal and political crisis for promoting the Libra token, a memecoin that soared to $4 billion over the weekend before it crashed and lost 95% of its value.
Investors, including Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy, suffered steep losses, calling it “the biggest rug pull of all time.”
Crypto entrepreneur Hayden Davis, who helped launch Libra, claimed he was Milei’s adviser, but the Argentine government denied any connection.
Milei initially promoted the crypto token on X and posted on the platform on Friday that $LIBRA is “dedicated to encouraging the growth of the Argentine economy,” and the money raised will help small and medium businesses.
After the crash, he deleted the social media post, claiming he was not aware of the project details.
The crypto fallout sparked an internal investigation as Milei rushed to distance himself from the fiasco, which has come at a time when the Argentinian president is traveling to the US to meet with President Donald Trump, seeking IMF funding and potential tariff exemptions.
The Libra memecoin was launched on the Solana blockchain platform, where President Trump launched $TRUMP, days before his inauguration in January. It surpassed over $50 billion in value in just 48 hours.