Argentine leader draws fire after cratering of crypto coin he promoted

President Javier Milei of Argentina speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Dec. 4, 2024. (Magali Druscovich/The New York Times)

By Natalie Alcoba, Lucia Cholokian Herrera and Yan Zhuang

Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has caused a political firestorm by promoting an unknown cryptocurrency token that shot up in value after his endorsement — then swiftly cratered.

In a post on social media Friday night, Milei said that the coin, called $LIBRA, would stimulate the economy and help small businesses grow. While the sudden attention gave the token an initial boost, the huge gains were erased as fear quickly spread that the coin was a scam.

Milei deleted the post, which was on his personal account, five hours later and attempted to distance himself from the venture. “I was not familiar with the details of the project,” he wrote on social platform X, “and after having informed myself I decided not to continue disseminating it (that is why I deleted the tweet).”

On Saturday night, in another post on X from the official presidential account, his initial endorsement of the coin was described as a routine promotion of a business. It also said the president had opened investigations into whether anyone in his government, including himself, had acted inappropriately, and whether anyone involved with the coin had broken the law.

Milei had come under fire for apparently pushing people toward a risky investment. His initial post also prompted comparisons with President Donald Trump, who launched a memecoin, $Trump, last month. That token surged for a while and then crashed.

A center-left coalition that opposes Milei’s libertarian government called his crypto foray “a scandal without precedent.” Another political bloc said it was seeking to create a commission in Congress to investigate what occurred.

Former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Milei’s main political opponent, said that thousands who had trusted him lost millions of dollars in all, “while many made fortunes due to privileged information.”

Milei’s promotion of $LIBRA was only the latest in a series of moves he has made in parallel with Trump. Milei withdrew Argentina from the World Health Organization earlier this month, and his staff has said that the government is examining whether to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

The coin promoted by Milei was presented as an investment tool that would be good for the country.

In his initial post on X, he said that $LIBRA — a name that carries echoes of his political party, La Libertad Avanza — would “incentivize the growth of the Argentine economy, funding small companies and Argentine ventures.”

“Liberal Argentina is growing!!!” Milei added, saying that “the world wants to invest in Argentina.”

Not long after, a community note on X warned users to be cautious with $LIBRA. It urged people to “verify before interacting with the project” because of behavior consistent “with a rug pull.” That term refers to scam offerings by developers who create a crypto token, attract investors and then suddenly disappear, withdrawing all their money.

Shortly after midnight, Milei deleted his post. He later said that he had no personal ties to the crypto token. He lashed out at his critics, who he said were trying to score political points.

“I want to say that every day they confirm how lowly politicians are,” he said.

In the post on Saturday night, Milei characterized his promotion of the coin as routine, likening it to announcements he makes “daily” about entrepreneurs who want to launch projects in Argentina that create jobs. He added that he had had two meetings about the coin, one in October last year and the other in January, but had no involvement in its development.

Agustín Pantano, a 28-year-old lawyer and Milei supporter, said he had jumped on $LIBRA because of the president’s initial post on X. He said he wagered that Milei’s involvement could make him some quick money.

At 1 a.m., he checked his phone and saw that he had lost about 90% of the $150 he had put in.

“There were several red flags, and that’s why I only invested a little money,” Pantano said.