Argentine President Javier Milei Faces Fraud Charges Over LIBRA Token Promotion

• Argentine lawyers filed fraud charges against Milei for promoting $LIBRA.
• The President’s Office denies Milei’s involvement in $LIBRA’s creation.

Argentine President Javier Milei is facing criminal fraud charges after promoting the LIBRA token on social media. The cryptocurrency surged to a $4.5 billion valuation before crashing, leading to significant investor losses.

Lawyers filed the charges in a criminal court on Sunday. They argue that Milei’s promotion of LIBRA was part of an illicit scheme. Jonatan Baldiviezo, one of the plaintiffs, claimed the president’s actions were essential to the alleged fraud.

The complaint includes lawyer Marcos Zelaya, engineer María Eva Koutsovitis, and former Central Bank president Claudio Lozano. They accuse Milei of violating Argentina’s Public Ethics Law. Opposition figures have also demanded accountability. Lawmaker Leandro Santoro has called the situation a scandal and is considering impeachment proceedings.

Milei Promotes LIBRA Then Deletes Post

Milei promoted LIBRA on Friday through X, linking it to the Viva La Libertad Project. He described it as a crypto initiative to support small businesses. The post triggered a surge in LIBRA’s price. Hours later, he deleted the post, and the token collapsed by 85%.

The President’s Office later issued a statement denying Milei’s involvement in the project. They claimed he had no connection to the token’s development. However, officials confirmed that Milei and his team met with representatives of KIP Protocol, the project’s developer.

Crypto analytics firms had raised concerns about the project before its collapse. Bubblemaps reported that a single cluster of wallets held 82% of the token supply. This suggested that a few individuals controlled most of the supply. The team allegedly withdrew $87 million in USDC and SOL from liquidity pools before the crash.

KIP Protocol denied creating the token or acting as a market maker. They stated they were only a tech consultancy firm for the project. However, reports revealed that the LIBRA website domain was registered just hours before launch, raising further suspicion.

Hayden Mark Davis, a KIP Protocol representative, blamed Milei for the crash. He claimed the president withdrew support unexpectedly, causing panic in the market. A judge is expected to be assigned to the case or will be referred to a prosecutor on Monday.

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