President Javier Milei has dissolved a special investigative unit he himself established to probe alleged wrongdoing in his controversial promotion of the ‘$LIBRA’ cryptocurrency,
In a decree signed by the President and published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday, Milei justified the move on the grounds that the unit had completed its “assigned task” – examining complaints about the head of state’s role in the so-called ‘cryptogate’ scandal.
“The Government considers that the information gathered has been forwarded to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and that the Unit has fulfilled the task assigned under Decree No. 114/25,” reads Decree 332/2025, which is co-signed by Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona.
According to the text, information was sourced from several government departments and offices, including the Anti-Corruption Office, Central Bank, Financial Information Unit (UIF) money-laundering watchdog, the National Securities Commission (CNV) and the ARCA tax bureau (ex-AFIP), among others.
The Investigative Task Unit (UTI) was created by Milei last February 19, five days after the controversial launch of the $LIBRA memecoin, which moved more than US$4.5 billion before plummeting in value.
Investors are thought to have lost at least US$250 million in total in the scam.
$LIBRA was promoted by Milei on his personal social media accounts last February 14 as a "private project" aimed at "stimulating the growth of the Argentine economy, by financing small businesses and Argentine entrepreneurs."
"The world wants to invest in Argentina. $LIBRA," he wrote.
But $LIBRA went from boom to bust all in the space of an evening. After Milei’s apparent thumbs-up, it soared in value but then plummeted 90 percent within two hours.
Industry experts have called the operation a "rug pull" – a scam where developers unveil a crypto token, attract investors, then quickly cash out.
The President later claimed he "did not know the details of the project."
“I have nothing to hide ... I didn't promote it, I spread” awareness of it, Milei said at the time, attempting to play down his role in the scandal.
Last month, lawmakers in Argentina’s lower house backed the creation of a commission of inquiry to investigate potential wrongdoing in the launch of the ‘$LIBRA’ cryptocurrency.
Alongside the formation of the investigative body, deputies also secured approval to summon key government officials to testify over the affair.
Judge María Romilda Servini de Cubría has been tasked with investigating Milei's connection to $LIBRA amid allegations that he was complicit in fraud, consorted with criminals or guilty of malfeasance.
Last week she ordered the Central bank to provide information on banking operations involving President Milei and his sister, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei.
No information has been made public about the Public Prosecutor’s Office and its determination as to whether any financial crimes of conflicts of interest involving officials from the national government were committed.
Investigations are also ongoing with the Anti-Corruption Office, according to local media reports.
The scandal has also prompted allegations of fraud in courts in the United States, with one class-action suit accusing Milei of “deceptive promotion” and “negligence,” arguing that the investments could not have taken place without his publicity.
To date, no official data or findings from the now-shuttered UTI unit have been made public.
The unit, based within the Justice Ministry, was tasked with gathering information on the case and collaborating with the Judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Office during the investigative process.
It was led by María Florencia Zicavo, a top Justice Ministry official seen as Cúneo Libarona's “right-hand woman," according to reporting by Perfil.
– TIMES/PERFIL/NA
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