“As a guy who’s a super technology enthusiast seeing the possibility of a tool to finance entrepreneurs’ projects, I spread the word,” Milei said.
Argentina President Javier Milei on Monday addressed the crypto controversy that has sparked lawsuits, calls for impeachment and a political firestorm.
In a televised interview with Todo Noticias on Monday, Milei admitted meeting the creators of the meme coin Libra. However, he insisted that his social media post was not intended to persuade people to invest. Instead, he claimed he was simply sharing information about an initiative to support Argentine entrepreneurs through crypto.
“I’m not an expert. My specialty is economic growth, with and without money,” Bloomberg reported Milei saying. “As a guy who’s a super technology enthusiast seeing the possibility of a tool to finance entrepreneurs’ projects, I spread the word.”
Despite his defense, Milei now faces fraud charges for allegedly promoting a fake cryptocurrency. Over the weekend, local lawyers filed a criminal case against him. His political opponents too have seized on the controversy. The left-wing Peronist opposition has accused him of participating in a crypto scam, and pushing for impeachment over alleged ethics violations.
The scandal erupted after Milei promoted Libra on X last Friday. His endorsement triggered a massive surge, briefly sending the token’s market capitalization to $4.5b. However, within hours, Milei deleted his post, causing Libra’s price to collapse in what critics have called a classic rug pull. Investors who bought in at the peak saw millions wiped out, according to Dexscreener data.
Shortly after, the president distanced himself from the project, posting that he had no prior knowledge of the token’s details and had decided to stop promoting it after learning more. This sudden reversal fueled speculation that his social media account may have been compromised.
As the controversy deepens, Hayden Davis, a figure linked to the Libra project via Kelsier Ventures, has accused Milei’s team of abruptly withdrawing support. According to Davis, the president’s initial endorsement was clear, and his team had directly assured project leaders of his full backing before suddenly changing course—leading to Libra’s market collapse.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported Milei describing the fallout as a “slap in the face” but maintaining that his intentions were genuine.
“I’m a techno-optimist . . . and this was proposed to me as an instrument to help fund Argentine projects,” he said. “It’s true that in trying to help out those Argentines, I took a slap in the face.”
In response to the scandal, Milei has reportedly asked the executive branch’s anti-corruption office to investigate whether any wrongdoing occurred—by him or any government official.
However, in another statement, Milei attempted to downplay the scale of the damage. DB Newswire reported he dismissed reports that 44,000 investors had suffered losses, claiming the actual number was closer to 5,000. He also insisted that most of the affected investors were from China and the US, not Argentina.
“It’s false that 44,000 people were affected—at most, it’s 5,000,” he said.
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