- Javier Milei, president of Argentina, has been cleared by the country’s anti-corruption office of any wrongdoing in the LIBRA token promotion.
- Milei’s tweet caused LIBRA’s worth to surge to $4.5B, but later founders sold their holdings, making the valuation decrease to just $750M and causing many investors to lose money.
- Ethics charges have been removed, yet an investigation for possible wrongdoing to affect the market is still happening.
The anti-corruption office of Argentina has said there were no rules broken by President Javier Milei, as he advertised the LIBRA cryptocurrency on his X account this year. The move came after a debate started on whether the president’s actions affected the crypto industry negatively.
Milei’s Tweet on LIBRA Caused Price to Soar By $4.5B, But Soon Dropped 85%
In February, Javier Milei talked on his X account about LIBRA, which was unveiled by Kelsier Ventures from Delaware. The project called “Viva La Libertad” focused on helping Argentine startups and small businesses with blockchain technology.
According to him, the digital asset aims to boost the economy and he provided the blockchain address tied to the project. LIBRA went from almost zero in price to $5 per token only minutes after it was posted by Milei, giving the token a total market value of $4.5 billion.
Nonetheless, the sense of excitement did not continue. When the price peaked, founders who owned most of the tokens put them up for sale, which immediate led to an 85% drop in price.
Losses suffered by investors were placed between $100 million and $250 million. Hence, many raised the issue of whether Milei’s tweet was proper, since it may have influenced the market.
Law Enforcement Authorities Are Still Investigating Milei’s LIBRA Endorsement
As part of an investigation by the anti-corruption office, a government ministry, it will examine if Milei’s choices were against the principles for public officials. Javier Milei has made it clear that the post was only about cryptocurrency’s usefulness for firms, not aimed at prompting people to put their money into cryptocurrencies.
He made the post after meeting with LIBRA’s founders and stressed it reflected his personal views. While the anti-corruption office cleared Milei, a separate criminal investigation is still ongoing.
This investigation is looking into whether the president’s LIBRA promotion involved securities law violations or market manipulation. While the ethics review checks for unethical behavior, a criminal investigation follows a separate route and may have a different outcome.
The LIBRA issue has caused many to doubt if public figures should support cryptocurrencies. The ethics case against Javier Milei has been dropped, but because there is a criminal charge, the story is not finished yet.
