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$Libra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Facebook cryptocurrency called Libra, see Diem (digital currency).
$Libra
Denominations
CodeLIBRA
Development
Latest release6 days ago
Development statusActive
Ledger
Ledger start6 days ago
Website
Websitewww.vivalalibertadproject.com

$Libra (stylized $LIBRA) is a meme coin created on 14 February 2025.[1][2] It achieved notoriety due to suffering a massive price drop after its promotion by Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, and allegations of a rug pull scam leading to the Cryptogate scandal. The companies involved with the cryptocurrency are KIP Protocol, led by Singaporean Julian Peh, and Kelsier Ventures, which is owned by American businessman Hayden Mark Davis.

A few minutes after its creation, the value of the cryptocurrency increased from $0.000001 to $5.20, and then crashed immediately and losing almost all its value.[3] Three hours later, the nine founding accounts of the cryptocurrency had gained approximately USD 286 million at the expense of approximately 74,000 people who invested, in what some have called a rug pull scam.[3][4]

On 15 February, Davis, the owner of Kelsier Ventures, made a public appearance on his Twitter account. He introduced himself as a "part" of the $LIBRA project and an "advisor" to Milei, blaming him as well as the president's team for "withdrawing their support" from the project "despite prior commitments". He also pledged to gather as many dollars as possible to "reinject" into $LIBRA.[5][6][7] Other individuals linked to $LIBRA include Argentinians Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy, who have been organizing the Tech Forum in Argentina since 2024.[8]

Key events

[edit]

A week before $Libra's launch, Diógenes Casares, co-founder of decentralized finance company Stream Finance, wrote a report mentioning rumors that "a meme coin around Milei [was] being created," including the involvement of bribes, though he initially thought they were not real.[9][10] American analyst Nick O'Neill stated that "Javier Milei and his team worked for weeks on launching a token" and claimed "with 100% certainty" that payments were involved in the development and launch of $Libra.[11]

On 14 February 2025, at 18:58 Argentina time, the Panamanian company KIP Protocol created the "$LIBRA" token libra (transl. liberty) without publicizing the event, as part of a project called "Viva La Libertad" (transl. Long Live Freedom).[3][12] Three minutes later, Argentina's President Javier Milei published on his official Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts, promoting the $Libra cryptocurrency on the Solana platform. His post included the contract address for purchasing the newly launched token and was pinned to his profile.[3] Government officials such as Martín Menem and José Luis Espert also showed support through posts on their profiles.[13][14] Immediately after Milei's post, $Libra's value surged from $0.000001 to $5.20 in 40 minutes. The founders of $Libra held 70% of the total supply, and once the price reached a certain level, they abruptly sold their holdings, crashing the price by 85%.[15] Three hours later, the nine founding accounts had made approximately $87 million at the expense of an estimated 74,000 investors. The event has been described as being a type of scam commonly known as a "rug pull".[3][16]

The company KIP Protocol was registered in Panama and relied on the technological infrastructure services of Kelsier, owned by Hayden Mark Davis. According to the government, Milei met the executives of KIP Protocol, who introduced him to the company's project called Viva la Libertad, which aimed to fund private ventures in Argentina using blockchain technology.[17]

On 15 February, at 00:38 (7 hours after his promotional post), Milei declared that he had promoted the cryptocurrency without being fully informed of the details of the project and that he decided to delete his post after actually delving into it.[18] At the same time, KIP Protocol issued a statement distancing themselves from the situation, clarifying that they only provided technical infrastructure and that Kelsier were the ones responsible for the project and its execution.[19] Hayden Davis, the owner of Kelsier, published a statement declaring that he had been an advisor to the Argentine government. He mentioned that government members had assured him they would support the project and described the government's decision to delete the supportive post as abrupt, asserting that Libra investors felt betrayed by this turn of events.[20]

Following this event, lawmakers of the opposition Union for the Homeland alliance announced their intention to initiate impeachment proceedings and a criminal complaint was filed accusing Milei of violating the duties of a public official.[21] An additional impeachment bill was presented by Socialist Party lawmaker Esteban Paulón. Other opposition figures, such as Miguel Ángel Pichetto, Maximiliano Ferraro and Martín Lousteau called for an investigation to be launched to determine the president's culpability.[22] Former president Mauricio Macri, an occasional ally of Milei's, also criticized Milei, calling him "careless".[23]

In response, the government requested that the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which is part of the Executive Branch, determine whether any improper conduct occurred on the part of the government in relation to the event. Additionally, a new body called the "Unit for Investigation Tasks" was created within the Presidency to investigate the entire $Libra project.[24]

On 17 February 2025, an Argentine law firm operating in the United States filed a complaint against Milei and other responsible parties with the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.[25]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Dale, Brady (2025-02-18). "Argentina's LIBRA meme coin fails where Trump succeeded". Axios. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  2. ^ Redmond, Nora. "Argentina's populist president promoted a meme coin — and now faces impeachment calls". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Crónica de una estafa anunciada: el minuto a minuto de la memecoin que promocionó Milei". Cenital (in Spanish). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  4. ^ "Cómo fue la operatoria con $LIBRA, la criptomoneda que promocionó Javier Milei en redes sociales". infobae (in Spanish). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  5. ^ "Addressing Libra (video)". X. 15 February 2025.
  6. ^ "Libra Token Launch Addressing Recent Developments (imagen de documento)". X. 15 February 2025.
  7. ^ "Cómo fue la operatoria con $LIBRA, la criptomoneda que promocionó Javier Milei en redes sociales". infobae (in Spanish). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  8. ^ "Karina Milei, la puerta de entrada a la Casa Rosada para los personajes detrás de la criptomoneda del escándalo". La Nación (in Spanish). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  9. ^ "Karina Milei, la puerta de entrada a la Casa Rosada para los personajes detrás de la criptomoneda del escándalo". La Nación (in Spanish). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  10. ^ "Empresario cripto cuenta la trama secreta del escándalo $Libra y el supuesto pago de coimas por US$5 millones". Perfil (in Spanish). 2025-02-17. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  11. ^ Dolabjian, Camila (2025-02-16). "El escándalo de $LIBRA abrió una caja de pandora: pedidos de coimas y gestiones para acceder a Milei". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  12. ^ "Viva La Libertad Project". Viva La Libertad Project. Archived from the original on 15 February 2025. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  13. ^ Destape, El (2025-02-15). "Menem y Espert también apoyaron la promoción de la estafa cripto de Milei". www.eldestapeweb.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  14. ^ "Desaforados: la guardia tuitera de Milei pasó la noche en vela dando explicaciones por el escándalo cripto". Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  15. ^ "Cómo fue la operatoria con $LIBRA, la criptomoneda que promocionó Javier Milei en redes sociales". infobae (in Spanish). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  16. ^ "Qué es el Rug Pull, el polémico movimiento de criptoactivos que se sospecha que está detrás de $LIBRA". Ámbito Financiero. 15 February 2025. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  17. ^ "La Oficina Anticorrupción investigará al Gobierno y a Javier Milei tras el escándalo por $LIBRA". LA NACION (in Spanish). 2025-02-16. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  18. ^ "El presidente Milei promocionó una criptomoneda y luego admitió que no estaba interiorizado del proyecto". infobae (in Spanish). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  19. ^ elDiarioAR (2025-02-16). "KIP Protocol se desliga de la caída de $LIBRA tras el escándalo con Milei". elDiarioAR.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  20. ^ "Habló el creador de Libra, la cripto presidencial: "Soy asesor de Javier Milei"". www.c5n.com. 2025-02-16. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  21. ^ "Denuncia penal contra Milei por $LIBRA: cuáles son los delitos que le imputan" (in Spanish). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  22. ^ "La oposición pidió investigar al presidente Milei por la promoción de una criptomoneda que movió millones de dólares y se desplomó en minutos". Infobae (in Spanish). 15 February 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  23. ^ de los Santos, Germán (18 February 2025). "Macri sobre el escándalo cripto: "Hemos visto un presidente descuidado y mal rodeado"". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  24. ^ "Milei pidió a la Oficina Anticorrupción que intervenga para investigar el caso de la criptomoneda". A24 (in Spanish). 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  25. ^ "Denuncian en Estados Unidos a Javier Milei y a los otros protagonistas del escándalo $LIBRA". La Nación (in Spanish). 2025-02-17. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
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