Argentina’s President Javier Milei spoke concerning the LIBRA meme coin for the primary time for the reason that high-profile scandal made information on Saturday.
In an unique interview with nationwide information outlet Todo Noticias, Milei mentioned he solely disseminated the undertaking– however denied having promoted it.
Milei talked about assembly Hayden Davis, the CEO of LIBRA’s market maker, on the Tech Discussion board in October 2024. Hayden claims to be Milei’s advisor for this undertaking.
On Friday, February 14, Milei endorsed the token in a tweet shortly after its launch. This noticed the LIBRA meme coin attain a market cap of over $4 billion.
Nevertheless, insiders all of the sudden cashed out over $100 million in income, which noticed the token drop in a straight line like a rug pull. This prompted Milei to delete his tweet.
Now, in as we speak’s interview, Milei says he by no means promoted LIBRA. The president claims he shared it simply in good religion, similar to he shares about different tech initiatives.
“I shared this the identical method I’ve shared a whole bunch of issues. My tweet got here simply three minutes after the coin was created as a result of I’m enthusiastic about these items and discovered about it. These are volatility merchants who knew what they have been doing.” Milei mentioned.
Milei appeared collected throughout the interview, beginning off by saying that he had nothing to cover. When requested why he promoted the token, Milei responded:
“I didn’t put it up for sale, I disseminated it.”
Nevertheless, referring to the scandal, he mentioned:
“It was a slap within the face.”
Although he didn’t check with it as a mistake, Milei mentioned that he had one thing to be taught from the expertise. Referring to himself and his sister Karina Milei, the presidency’s Secretary Normal, Milei mentioned:
“We clearly can not proceed dwelling as we did earlier than and permit everybody to entry us. I want to grasp that after turning into president, I continued appearing like the identical Javier Milei as earlier than.”
Milei mentioned that transferring ahead, he’ll begin to filter out the individuals who have entry to him.
Argentinians Did Not Lose Cash, the President Claims
Milei defined that his preliminary tweet endorsing LIBRA stemmed from a perception it might assist Argentine entrepreneurs. He hoped it might present entry to funding for his or her startups, particularly for these missing entry to conventional capital markets.
When rumors started spreading that Milei’s account had been hacked, the president determined to pin the tweet to reveal that he was managing his personal X account. Later seeing the unfavourable feedback, he determined to delete it.
Most notably, he claims that just a few Argentinians misplaced cash within the LIBRA meme coin scandal. He emphasised that almost all merchants have been People and Chinese language.
“Did the State lose cash? No. Did Argentinians lose cash? Perhaps 4 or 5 at most. The overwhelming majority of buyers are Chinese language and American.”
Although experiences point out that round 40,000 buyers traded the Libra token, Milei says that quantity is fake. In response to him, solely round 5,000 buyers participated out there.
Milei additionally denied deceptive buyers, arguing that skilled crypto merchants populated the Libra market.
“Those that entered have been volatility merchants. They knew very nicely what they have been moving into,” Milei mentioned.
On the identical time, Milei admitted that he wasn’t an skilled in cryptocurrency. He additionally spoke of his relationship with Hayden Mark Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures.
Hayden Davis Met With the President At Least 10 Instances
Kelsier Ventures was found to be the primary entity that unfold the LIBRA meme coin. In his interview, Milei defined that he met Davis on the Argentina Tech Discussion board in Buenos Aires in October 2024.
Mauricio Novelli, knowledgeable dealer and a pal of Milei’s for a few years, linked the 2.
In response to native experiences, Davis has visited the president’s workplace, often known as the Casa Rosada, and the president’s residence, often known as the Quinta de Olivos, at the least ten instances for the reason that Argentine Tech Discussion board.
It was throughout a type of conferences that Davis mentioned the undertaking with Milei.
“David proposed that I create a construction that funds initiatives for Argentine entrepreneurs,” Milei mentioned throughout the interview.
Milei added that he determined to publish the tweet as a result of he thought the undertaking was fascinating and since he was a technological fanatic.
“My fanaticism for expertise made me unfold the phrase as quickly because it was made public,” Milei mentioned throughout the interview.
Earlier than the interview ended, Milei addressed the Argentine folks immediately. He said that he had at all times acted in good religion and would proceed to take action.
The Fallout Continues
Because the Libra scandal broke on February 14, over 100 legal complaints have been introduced towards President Milei and totally different actors allegedly concerned within the fallout. Lawmakers from opposition events have added that they’ll pursue an impeachment.
As we speak, US prosecutors have been knowledgeable that they could have jurisdiction over prices towards Milei or different figures concerned with the LIBRA meme coin scandal. The case immediately implicates Davis, an American citizen who openly admitted to legal actions in a latest interview.
A day after the LIBRA launch, Milei offered himself earlier than Argentina’s Workplace of Anti-Corruption, instructing it to analyze whether or not any member of the federal government, together with himself, engaged in inappropriate habits.
Milei denied being bribed to advertise the LIBRA meme coin throughout the interview. He additionally strayed from going into particulars about his view of Davis’s function within the Libra launch.
As a substitute, Milei repeated that Justice wanted to hold out its due diligence to confirm whether or not any of Milei’s cupboard members have been concerned. The president added that, to his data, none have been implicated.
Milei emphasised that every one crypto market exercise is recorded on the blockchain. He added that this file ought to expedite the Justice Division’s investigation into the scandal.
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