Argentina’s President Javier Milei has found himself at the center of a new scandal involving the memecoin LIBRA. The politician, previously criticized for mentioning the token, unexpectedly reposted a guide on how to buy it on X. Later, Mealey spoke out for the first time about the token and his involvement in it.
The original post was published by Dario Epstein, director of the analytics firm Research for Traders (RfT), who cited Agustin Natoli, co-founder of Metamind Education.
The post explained how to purchase the LIBRA token on Solana in just two hours. Following this, the price of the token, which had previously fallen by nearly 90%, surged by 150–300% from its lowest levels.
SOL Under Pressure as Insiders Profit Again
After LIBRA’s latest price surge, Cointelegraph analysts recorded an increase in short positions on SOL. Investors began betting on a drop in Solana (SOL) prices due to multiple scandals involving memecoins on the network.
According to Coinalyze, the long-to-short ratio on futures exchanges fell from 4 to 2.5, indicating a more bearish market sentiment.
Crypto influencer Tyler Durden noted in a post that on Binance, the short-to-long ratio had reached 4:1, showing a strong dominance of bearish bets. Amid these developments, SOL lost nearly 6% in value over 24 hours.
Analyst @wassielawyer estimated that around 75,000 users were affected by LIBRA, with total losses amounting to approximately $286 million.
One trader reportedly spent $5 million USDC to buy $10.5 million worth of LIBRA immediately after Milei reposted the token purchase guide. He later sold them for $5.5 million. Previously, he had earned $1.65 million on LIBRA, bringing his total profit to $2.15 million.
"I Did Not Promote It, I Just It"
Amid growing criticism, Argentina’s president attempted to clarify his stance. In an interview with a local TV channel, he stated:
- He acted with good intentions and also suffered losses.
- "The state did not lose money. Maybe four or five Argentinians were affected, but most investors were Chinese and American."
- "Those who got involved knew the risks perfectly well."
- "I simply shared information, as I have done hundreds of times before."
- "LIBRA was created as a private initiative to fund startups."
- "I do not see this as a mistake, but I realized that after becoming president, I need to filter what I publish."
Legal Consequences and Investigations
Amid the scandal, the founder of Jupiter stated that the platform had not engaged in insider trading or financial misconduct. Meanwhile, the founder of Meteora, which was also implicated in the situation, announced his resignation and hired lawyers to conduct an investigation.
The LIBRA token emerged last week after Milei referred to the project as a private initiative to support Argentina’s economy. Shortly after launch, the token's price skyrocketed but then collapsed when insiders withdrew $107 million through fees and liquidity.
Later, analysts from Bubblemaps noted that a similar scenario had previously occurred with the memecoin MELANIA, linked to the former US First Lady. They suggested that the same developer might be behind both projects. After a rapid price increase, MELANIA also crashed, leaving thousands of investors with losses. Read more about it here.
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