Argentine lawyers filed fraud complaints against President Javier Milei in criminal court on Sunday after he promoted a cryptocurrency on his social media, one of the lawyers told The Associated Press.
On Friday, Milei shared a post on X about $LIBRA, a new cryptocurrency he claimed would “encourage economic growth by supporting small businesses and startups.” However, he deleted the post just a few hours later, leading to a sharp drop in the coin’s value, which caused millions of dollars in losses for early investors.
The cryptocurrency was developed by KIP Protocol and Hayden Davis, and it could be accessed through a link that directed users to a website called vivalalibertadproject.com, which references the phrase “Viva la Libertad,” often used by Milei in his speeches and social media posts.
In response, the President’s Office released a statement on Saturday clarifying that Milei had no involvement in the cryptocurrency’s creation. The statement also explained that Milei chose to remove the post to prevent further speculation and limit exposure after the public reaction to the project.
Jonatan Baldiviezo, a lawyer and one of the plaintiffs, told the AP that they believe there was an illegal partnership aimed at committing “an unknown number of frauds” in this incident. He explained that within this illicit group, fraud was carried out, and that the president’s actions were crucial to the crime.
Jonatan Baldiviezo, along with lawyer Marcos Zelaya, engineer María Eva Koutsovitis, and economist Claudio Lozano—who previously led the Argentine Central Bank under former President Alberto Fernández—signed the petition. Criminal justice authorities are expected to assign a judge to the case or pass it on to a prosecutor for further investigation by Monday.
The plaintiffs believe Milei’s actions resembled a “rug pull” operation, a term in the cryptocurrency world where developers create an appealing token to attract investors, only to abandon the project once the value inflates, leaving the tokens worthless. Baldiviezo also argued that Milei violated the Public Ethics Law.
The President’s Office explained that Milei shared a post about the launch of KIP Protocol’s project on his personal social media accounts, as he often does with entrepreneurs aiming to start projects in Argentina to create jobs and attract investment.
After removing the post, Milei stated on X that he was unaware of the cryptocurrency’s development and accused his political opponents of trying to exploit the situation. “I wasn’t aware of the project’s details, and once I was informed, I chose to stop promoting it (which is why I deleted the tweet),” he said.
The President’s Office added that the country’s Anti-Corruption Office, under the Executive Branch, would take immediate action. The administration also acknowledged that Milei and members of his team had recently met with representatives of KIP Protocol at the presidential office.
The statement concluded by saying that all information gathered in the investigation would be handed over to the judiciary to determine whether any individuals or companies linked to KIP Protocol had committed a crime.
Hayden Mark Davis, a representative of KIP Protocol who met with Milei, held the president responsible for the cryptocurrency’s collapse in a video shared on his social media on Saturday.
“Despite previous agreements, Milei and his team unexpectedly altered their stance, withdrawing their support and removing all prior posts from social media,” Davis said.