Argentina’s President Milei Denies Ties to LIBRA Meme Coin

Argentina’s President Javier Milei has distanced himself from the LIBRA meme coin after promoting it in a now-deleted tweet.

His clarification follows accusations that the project’s developers drained approximately $107 million in what appears to be a pump-and-dump scheme.

LIBRA Meme Coin Controversy

On February 14, Milei’s X account endorsed LIBRA, a Solana-based meme coin, which triggered a surge in trading activity. The token’s market cap briefly hit $4.5 billion as investors rushed in.

The project claimed its goal was to support Argentina’s economy by funding small businesses and local ventures. Julian Peh, co-founder of KIP Protocol, confirmed the platform’s involvement, stating that its role was to manage fund distribution rather than oversee the token itself.

“Our primary role is to help run the fund allocation to the Argentinian companies, and less on the token side. We are not the [Market maker]…We will put together the plan to run the Project Libertad as per the original objective. We would not have gotten the help we did to launch it if we were not serious. Not a single SOL will be used outside of the purpose of running Project Viva La Libertad,” Peh said.

However, doubts quickly emerged regarding the legitimacy of the launch. Crypto analyst Conor Grogan pointed out that the wallet deploying LIBRA had received funds from an exchange that does not require Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.

As concerns mounted, Milei addressed the issue, stating that he had initially shared the project to support a private initiative, something he does regularly.

Upon further review, he retracted his endorsement and deleted the post. Following his statement, LIBRA’s price plummeted by around 90%.

“I was not aware of the details of the project and after having become aware of it I decided not to continue spreading the word (that is why I deleted the tweet). To the filthy rats of the political caste who want to take advantage of this situation to do harm, I want to say that every day they confirm how vile politicians are, and they increase our conviction to kick them in the ass,” Milei said.

Meanwhile, blockchain analysis from Lookonchain revealed that insiders had withdrawn approximately $107 million. Eight wallets linked to the project moved $57.6 million in USDC and 249,671 SOL, worth nearly $50 million. Analysts suggested these withdrawals were tied to liquidity manipulation and accumulated fees.

Additionally, crypto analyst EmberCN reported that insiders made at least $20.18 million by front-running the promotional tweet, buying seconds after it was posted, and selling after the price spike.

Political Meme Coins and Industry Reactions

The LIBRA fallout highlights concerns surrounding politically affiliated meme coins. Similar speculation surrounded the launch of the TRUMP token in January and the Central African Republic’s CAR meme coin.

In both cases, traders rushed to buy in before questioning their legitimacy. While those tokens turned out to be authentic, LIBRA’s rapid collapse has raised alarms within the crypto community.

Industry figures have condemned the situation. Sonic Labs co-founder Andre Cronje criticized the trend, suggesting that meme coin traders do not engage with decentralized finance or blockchain technology.

“[Meme coin traders are] a demographic that doesnt care about decentralized finance or even blockchains. So memes arent stealing any attention, since the participants werent our participants in the first place,” Cronje stated.

On the other hand, SlowMist founder Yu Xian called for accountability, stating that those responsible should face legal consequences.

“Support everyone in defending your rights; the instigator must be punished by law, and hopefully, they will also face the President’s wrath,” Xian added.

The LIBRA controversy reflects the risks of speculative meme coins, particularly when linked to political figures. The incident has further fueled discussions about regulatory oversight and investor protection in the crypto space.