The scandal into the ‘$LIBRA’ cryptocurrency scam promoted by President Javier Milei on the social network X in 2025 regained momentum on Monday as lawmakers revived a parliamentary commission to examine new media revelations.
In mid-February last year, Milei promoted and shared details of a memecoin called $LIBRA on X, before deleting the post shortly afterwards. Meanwhile, the little-known cryptocurrency surged in value and then collapsed, causing losses of at least US$100 million for investors in Argentina and abroad.
At the time, Milei denied promoting the cryptocurrency and said he had “not been familiar with the details of the project.”
But in November, a parliamentary commission led by the opposition concluded that the publication on X of information about LIBRA could constitute fraud.
The committee attributed political responsibility for the episode to President Milei and his sister, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei.
Coalición Cívica lawmaker Maximiliano Ferraro announced the formation of an “ad hoc commission” of deputies on Monday to examine the latest revelations surrounding the case, which dominated domestic media outlets over the weekend.
“The launch and promotion of $LIBRA was not improvised or accidental on the part of the President. It was a planned, coordinated operation carried out with premeditation,” Ferraro declared.
He previously chaired the parliamentary commission that analysed the case last year.
Local media last week published leaked details from a judicial forensic examination of a phone belonging to a close associate of Milei, which allegedly shows a web of calls and a stream of messages involving the President, his sister, and the creators and promoters of the cryptocurrency.
According to the reports, the forensic analysis of the phone belonging to crypto entrepreneur Mauricio Novelli – described as a government lobbyist – showed that he allegedly spoke by phone with Milei at least five times in the minutes before the launch of the cryptocurrency.
The press also published what it said was a draft agreement between Milei and US national Hayden Davis, the public face of the project. The document reportedly outlines a payment of US$5 million to the President in exchange for promoting the cryptocurrency. It is unclear if the contract was signed or not.
“What appears in this evidence is clear: a network of direct coordination between operators from the crypto world – very marginal operators – and figures close to the President,” the lawmaker added.
Ferraro, flanked by around a dozen opposition deputies, said he would file a complaint against prosecutor Eduardo Taiano, who is investigating the $LIBRA case, before a disciplinary tribunal “for obstructing the investigation” and for “possible cover-up.”
Lawmakers will also ask the President and Karina Milei to “provide explanations” before Congress.
Late Monday, Justice Minister Juan Bautista Mahiques said it was necessary to “allow the courts to investigate the LIBRA case.”
He also described the alleged leak of confidential information from the case file held by prosecutor Taiano as “very serious.”
“The fact that it has been leaked is serious. Ministries must cooperate with whatever the prosecutor or the judge requires, but the most serious issue is that someone may have had access to this file, which means the chain of custody is not guaranteed,” the government official said.
“We cannot guarantee that part of this file has not been manipulated,” the justice minister said with the LN+ television channel.
According to Mahiques, authorities are examining whether the material published in the media may have been altered or tampered with.
The minister also stressed that the courts must be allowed “to investigate the LIBRA case,” the minister insisted.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
Comments