- LIBRA crypto surged and collapsed, raising concerns over political influence in volatile markets.
- The rise of politician-backed memecoins intensifies fears of market manipulation and investor losses.
Argentina’s President, Javier Milei, is facing intense scrutiny after publicly endorsing LIBRA, a little-known cryptocurrency that briefly surged before collapsing.
The abrupt price movement has triggered accusations of market manipulation, with critics questioning whether Milei’s involvement crossed ethical or legal boundaries.
What is the LIBRA memecoin, and what does Milei have to do with it?
The LIBRA memecoin, promoted by Milei, was introduced as a cryptocurrency aimed at boosting the Argentine economy by funding small projects.
The launch, announced via a post at 5:01 PM ET, created immediate speculation due to its unusual nature.
A hastily created website linked to a Google Form for funding applications went live, and the domain was registered just hours before launch.
Source: GeckoTerminal
Within five hours, the token surged to a $4.6 billion market cap before plummeting, erasing over $4.4 billion.
The lack of transparency, including undisclosed tokenomics and restricted domain information, fueled suspicions of a rug pull, with insiders cashing out $87.4 million within three hours.
Libra crypto: Ripple effects
Source: X
The fallout from LIBRA’s collapse was swift and significant. Over 82% of the token was held by a single cluster, and insiders manipulated liquidity pools to remove stable assets while offloading massive amounts of LIBRA.
This resulted in a 90%+ price drop, with $1.1 billion in volume traded, as retail investors absorbed the losses.
Accusations of market manipulation and calls for regulatory scrutiny have emerged, tarnishing Milei’s reputation and casting a shadow over Argentina’s crypto landscape.
The incident highlights the vulnerabilities of memecoins and the potential risks of political figures influencing volatile financial markets.
The political fallout
Following the backlash, President Milei clarified that he had withdrawn his support for LIBRA after learning more about the project.
“I was not aware of the details of the project and after becoming informed, I decided not to continue giving it exposure.”
Argentina’s presidential office downplayed the incident, labeling it a routine promotion tied to blockchain financing.
An investigation has been launched into Milei and KIP Protocol’s actions, with the formation of an Investigation Task Unit announced to examine the launch and potential misconduct.
Politicians have since accused Milei of a classic pump-and-dump scheme, sparking impeachment threats from political factions. Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof called it a large-scale financial fraud.
He likened the incident to the rise of political memecoins destabilizing crypto markets.
The risks of politician and celebrity-backed memecoins
The rise of politician and celebrity-backed memecoins has triggered concerns about market manipulation and investor losses.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s TRUMP memecoin, launched just before his inauguration, soared to a $72 billion market cap but soon crashed, leaving many investors at a loss while benefiting Trump-affiliated holders.
Similarly, Melania Trump’s MELANIA memecoin followed a comparable trajectory.
These incidents, along with other celebrity memecoins, expose the financial dangers posed by high-profile promotions in an unregulated market.
Calls for greater oversight and transparency grow louder with each second, to protect investors from potential exploitation.
