Argentine President Javier Milei, as soon as lauded for his Bitcoin-focused insurance policies, is now dealing with impeachment over his involvement in a “crypto scandal”.
In line with a number of stories, opposition lawmakers in Argentina have known as for the impeachment of their president after he actively pushed for a brand new crypto which shortly collapsed, inflicting hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in losses.
President Milei Promoted Libra
Milei actively marketed a brand new crypto token, Libra, and even posted a pitch for the token final Friday night. In his Twitter/X put up, he shared that the challenge goals to spice up the Argentine financial system by serving to entrepreneurs and small enterprise house owners.
His put up was linked to the crypto’s official web site, which apparently carries Milei’s marketing campaign slogan, “Lengthy Reside Freedom”.
Inside minutes after launch, the token surged to $5, however it dropped to lower than $1 in simply hours, inflicting large losses.
It Began With A Tweet And Ended With Thousands and thousands Of {Dollars} In Losses
President Milei’s involvement within the crypto challenge has precipitated a monetary and political scandal in Argentina. Opposition politicians instantly attacked the president, saying he promoted a rip-off, an allegation the president vehemently denied.
The president’s involvement began with a Twitter/X put up (now deleted) encouraging his 3.8 million followers to put money into the challenge to spur the nation’s financial progress.
All of it started with this put up at 5:01 PM ET from Javier Milei.
As seen throughout President Trump’s memecoin launch, the primary hour was stuffed with hypothesis:
Was this a hack or an actual launch?
It turned out to be actual as a number of different Argentinian politicians posted the information. pic.twitter.com/cL0ZQgxtCB
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) February 15, 2025
Hours later, the president eliminated the message and shared one other put up saying he was not linked to the crypto challenge. He additional defined that he was unaware of its particulars and, after getting extra info, he determined to not assist it. Milei later issued a (Google translated) assertion on X blaming political opponents:
“To the filthy rats of the political caste who wish to benefit from this case to do hurt, I wish to say that day by day they affirm how vile politicians are, they usually enhance our conviction to kick them within the ass.”
In an interview with CNN, President Milei’s crew admitted that the put up “was a mistake.” CNN tried to contact the nation’s Nationwide Securities Fee to make clear whether or not they had been taking motion in opposition to Milei.
Libra Launched To Excessive Value Volatility
The Libra token instantly surged in worth, from virtually zero at launch to just about $5, earlier than dropping to underneath $1. In line with a number of stories, the token’s surge in value began after President Milei posted on Twitter/X to advertise the coin.
As of at present, the market cap of cryptocurrencies was recorded at $3.1 trillion. Chart: TradingView
The nation’s fintech chamber famous that the Libra launch is just like a “rug pull”, a crypto rip-off the place the token surges or pumps in value earlier than plummeting in worth, whereas insiders promote or “dump” their holdings. Different analysts say that the crypto challenge is just like a Ponzi scheme or a fraud.
Picture: Grafa
As Critics Discovered Pink Flags, Milei Will get Some Help
Crypto specialists like Pablo Sabbatella famous a number of pink flags in regards to the crypto challenge. Sabbatella identified that the crypto’s website was arrange a day earlier than the token’s launch, indicating a possible rip-off. He added that the token was minted simply minutes earlier than the Argentine president posted his message on social media.
Sabbatella famous that the whales purchased the tokens “virtually free of charge”, and when its value surged, they unloaded their holdings for large earnings. He added that some accounts obtained in at a low price, with holdings value $4 million, however managed to earn as much as $87 million inside hours.
The president discovered a number of supporters because the political opposition highlighted the scandal. Milei discovered an ally in Safety Minister Patricia Bullrich, who mentioned the chief has freedom of expression.
Bullrich added that President Milei’s put up is just like an investor’s go to to a manufacturing facility, however it doesn’t suggest that he’s lobbying for the enterprise.
Featured picture from AP, chart from TradingView
