He President Javier Milei denied having promoted the Cryptocurrency $ Librawhose boom and collapse causes a political scandal in Argentina and is subject to numerous complaints for fraud, and said he had acted “in good faith” when he spread information about her on Friday.
Milei is in the eye of the storm since he announced Friday at the Social network x A project to finance local companies, including a link to the digital contract to buy a cryptocurrency created that same day. Shortly after, he eliminated the message from the initiative.
But in that period, the currency grew exponentially its value, from tenths to a peak of $ 4,978; The original holders sold with gain of millions and the asset collapsed.
“I did not promote it; I spread it,” Milei told the TN channel, referring to the publication he deleted shortly after and for which the opposition accuses him, among other things, of having had privileged information. This “is a problem among private because the state does not play any role,” he added.
“Someone who comes and proposes me to create an instrument to anchor (finance) projects; it seems interesting to me. For wanting to give a hand to the Argentines, I ate a cheese,” he added, defining himself as a “fanatical techno -optimist” and comparing the Situation with the inauguration of a factory: “Are you responsible after the plant’s operation?”
A Federal Court was appointed on Monday to centralize the complaints that ask to determine if Milei incurred in illicit association, fraud and breach of the duties of an official, among other crimes.
“We denounce that Milei was part of an illegal association that organized a scam with the cryptocurrency $ Pound that simultaneously affected more than 40,000 people with losses of more than 4,000 million dollars, “the social organization said in a statement Observatory of the right to the citywhose lawyers lead one of the judicial actions.
Milei said that among investors there were “many bots” and that surely only 5,000 people had participated.
A law of lawyers also reported this Monday that he filed a complaint with the FBI and the United States Department of Justice.
“We face a plot of mass fraud committed not only against our clients, but against thousands of people from different jurisdictions,” including many Americans, says the complaint that involves Milei and four other individuals, including Hayden Davis, one of The creators of $ Pound.
Meanwhile, opposition legislators announced that they will promote a political trial, a investigative commission and the interpellation of the president.
In the middle of the scandal, the Argentine stock market collapsed almost 6%. Monday was a holiday in the United States and does not operate the New York markets.
“A gap”
The political analyst Carlos Germanic told AFP that the president’s credibility until Friday “was impeccable”, but that with this episode there is now “a gap that opened.”
“There was a level of transparency that society saw and today that questioned it”, because “this fact generated great uncertainty, a great doubt that will have an impact on Parliament.”
German does not believe that the political trial prosper. “That today in Argentina is unfeasible” because he will not gather the necessary votes, he said.
He added that “society in general continues to support the president today, fundamentally in a central issue that was the fight against inflation”, which in 2024 was 117.8%, almost half that the previous year.
In the midst of the controversy, Milei replied in X this Monday a publication that was interpreted as an instructive to buy the cryptocurrency. Shortly after, $ Libra increased its value by more than 120% and then fell again.
Two hours
Javier Smaldone, computer specialist and recognized digital influencer dedicated to denouncing pyramid scams, told AFP that the entire Friday operation lasted “two more or less hours” and that “about 107 million dollars were taken.”
The main complaint based on Argentina Includes, among others, Julián Peh, CEO and Kip Network and Kip Protocol -company that participated in the creation of $ Libra -and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem, who repossed Milei’s message on Friday In X.
The judicial action accuses Milei and members of his party to legitimize the Token generating that the price rises and facilitating the obtaining of an “exorbitant gain” to a few.
He also requests to pave the presidential residence, the seizure of devices and analyze his account in X, including “the records of their erased tweets” and the traceability of the transactions. There were also a hundred digital complaints.
