- Crypto entrepreneur Hayden Davis refers to $LIBRA as a memecoin and not an investment.
- The court will decide on the $280M in frozen assets that belong to Davis on August 19.
- Controversial steps were undertaken when Argentine President Milei met with Davis.
American crypto entrepreneur Hayden Davis has now testified in court that the $LIBRA token was essentially a memecoin and that he did not make any claims to ties with business ventures or investment strategies.
This was in the context of a 30-page court filing in the Southern District of New York in which Davis stands accused of supposed crypto-based fraud related to the rapid price surge and decline of the token.
The highly promoted project through various social media accounts of Argentina’s President Javier Milei witnessed a massive inflow of investor money before the token’s price collapsed severely within a few hours.
Davis’s litigation team goes on to assert that $LIBRA did not have any real business setup, strategies, or tokenomics, terming it nothing but a hyper-risky, hyper-speculative digital collectible with no intrinsic value. This goes against former statements that the token was to fund small businesses in Argentina.
Also Read: Why Memecoins Are Over, Devastating $4B Scandal
$280M LIBRA Funds at Center of Lawsuit
The court case was initiated by U.S. investor Omar Hurlock, who accuses Davis and his co-conspirators of orchestrating a false crypto release.
But Davis is coming back at him, claiming that Hurlock failed to present evidence of personal financial harm and a clear tie to any token purchase.
Davis also requested that the case be transferred from New York to states like Argentina or Texas, where he feels the judicial outcome will be more in his favor.
At the same time, a court battle brews over $280 million in crypto assets that were frozen and believed to represent profits made in the immediate days following $LIBRA hitting its all-time high price.
One key court hearing takes place on August 19, presided over by Federal Judge Jennifer L. Rochon, where Hayden Davis, together with Benjamin Chow of Meteora and Julian Peh of Kip Protocol, will make their appearance to stand up for their participation in the case.
Suspicious Wallet Transfers Emerge During Milei Meeting
Fueling the scandal further are new blockchain footprints that show one of the Davis-related wallets sent $499,000 USDC to Kraken minutes following a January 30th meeting involving Davis and President Milei at the Casa Rosada.
Another Davis-related wallet allegedly sent $507,000 through the Bitget platform 42 minutes after Milei shared a photo of that meeting with the public. They are also related to Davis’s second crypto project, the $MELANIA token, named after the First Lady of the United States.
Blockchain analysts found that they were conducted via Kelsier Ventures, a company that was reportedly used by Davis to transfer profits he was earning from the token.
With clearer money trails and scheduled court hearings, Davis’s claim that $LIBRA was simply a memecoin could change how risky crypto tokens are handled in future suits for fraud.
Also Read: Argentina’s LIBRA Wipes Out $251 Million! Aureal One Leads Popular Crypto Coins for Smart Investors
