Argentine President Milei Accused of Crypto Fraud for the Rug Pull of Libra

Fraud Complaint Filed
Argentine lawyers have filed a fraud complaint against President Javier Milei for promoting a cryptocurrency, $LIBRA, on social media. After Milei posted about the token, its value surged before crashing when he deleted the post, reportedly causing millions in investor losses.

Milei’s Response
Milei’s office stated that he had no involvement in the cryptocurrency’s development and removed the post to prevent speculation. He later claimed he was unaware of the project’s details before promoting it.

Hace unas horas publiqué un tweet, como tantas otras infinitas veces, apoyando un supuesto emprendimiento privado del que obviamente no tengo vinculación alguna.

No estaba interiorizado de los pormenores del proyecto y luego de haberme interiorizado decidí no seguir dándole…

— Javier Milei (@JMilei) February 15, 2025

Accusations of a Crypto Scam
The plaintiffs allege that Milei’s actions resemble a “rug pull,” a scam where developers hype a cryptocurrency before abandoning it, leaving investors with worthless tokens.* They also argue he violated Argentina’s Public Ethics Law.

Government and Developer Reactions
The government’s Anti-Corruption Office has launched an investigation, and Milei’s administration said they will provide all findings to the judiciary. Meanwhile, KIP Protocol’s Hayden Mark Davis, one of the token’s developers, blamed Milei for the project’s collapse, saying the president withdrew support unexpectedly.

*Rug pull: A fraudulent scheme where developers promote a cryptocurrency, inflate its price, and then abandon it, causing its value to crash.