Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has caused a political firestorm by promoting an unknown cryptocurrency token that shot up in value after his endorsement – then swiftly cratered.
In a post on X Friday night, Milei said the coin, called $LIBRA, would stimulate the economy and help small businesses grow. While the sudden attention gave the token an initial boost, the huge gains were erased as fear quickly spread the coin was a scam. Milei deleted the post, which was on his personal account, five hours later and attempted to distance himself from the venture. “I was not familiar with the details of the project,” he wrote on X, “and after having informed myself I decided not to continue disseminating it (that is why I deleted the tweet).”
On Saturday night, in another post from the official presidential account, his initial endorsement was described as a routine promotion of a business. It also said the president had opened investigations into whether anyone in his govt, including himself, had acted inappropriately.
A center-left coalition that opposes Milei’s libertarian govt called his crypto foray “a scandal without precedent”. Another political bloc said it was seeking to create a commission in Congress to investigate what occurred. Former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Milei’s main political opponent, said thousands who had trusted him lost millions of dollars in all, “while many made fortunes due to privileged information.” Milei’s promotion of $LIBRA was only the latest in a series of moves he has made in parallel with Trump. Milei withdrew Argentina from the WHO earlier this month, and his staff has said govt is examining whether to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
In his initial post on X, he said that $LIBRA – a name that carries echoes of his political party, La Libertad Avanza – would “incentivize the growth of the Argentine economy, funding small companies and Argentine ventures.”
Not long after, a community note on X warned users to be cautious with $LIBRA. It urged people to “verify before interacting with the project” because of behaviour consistent “with a rug pull.” That term refers to scam offerings by developers who create a crypto token, attract investors and then suddenly disappear, withdrawing all their money.
Agustin Pantano, a lawyer and Milei supporter, said he had jumped on $LIBRA because of the president’s initial post on X. He said he wagered that Milei’s involvement could make him some quick money. At 1 am, he checked his phone and saw he had lost about 90% of the $150 he had put in.