Argentine President Javier Milei is under fire after promoting a little-known cryptocurrency, whose price soared and then collapsed rapidly after his endorsement, resulting in significant losses for thousands of investors. The president’s tweet on the X social media platform sparked outrage among critics, who accuse him of peddling a scam.
Milei initially tweeted about the $LIBRA cryptocurrency project, claiming it would promote economic growth in Argentina. However, he later deleted the message and denied any involvement with the initiative. His team described the incident as a mistake.
The price of the cryptocurrency skyrocketed to nearly $5 within hours after Milei’s tweet, but plummeted to cents shortly thereafter. Cryptocurrency expert Pablo Sabbatella warned that this was characteristic of a “pump and dump” scheme, where prices are artificially inflated before being sold off quickly by large investors.
Sabbatella pointed out that the token was created just minutes before Milei published his message, suggesting it was likely a scam. He estimated that large investors earned millions in profits within a short period, while others lost significant amounts.
Argentina’s opposition party has announced plans to request impeachment against Milei over the scandal, with Congressman Diego Santilli calling such calls an attempt to “overthrow” the president. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich defended Milei, stating that his message was protected by freedom of expression and did not imply any lobbying activity.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/16/americas/argentina-milei-libra-cryptocurrency-impeachment-calls-intl-latam/index.html