YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Argentina’s President Javier Milei distanced himself from the LIBRA meme coin after promoting it in a now-deleted X post. His endorsement on Feb. 14 fueled a surge in LIBRA’s trading activity, pushing its market cap to $4.5 billion.
After reports surfaced that the project’s insiders withdrew $107 million, concerns over a pump-and-dump scheme grew. As pressure mounted, Milei retracted his support, saying he initially shared the project as a private initiative but later deleted the post after reviewing its details. LIBRA’s price dropped 90% following his statement.
LIBRA Meme Coin Sees Rapid Rise and Fall
Milei’s post about LIBRA, a Solana-based meme coin, attracted immediate interest from traders. The project positioned itself as a way to support Argentina’s economy, claiming its funds would help small businesses and local ventures.
Julian Peh, co-founder of KIP Protocol, confirmed that his company was involved in managing fund allocation but denied any role in the token’s market operations.
“Our primary role is to help run the fund allocation to the Argentinian companies, and less on the token side. Not a single SOL will be used outside of the purpose of running Project Viva La Libertad,”
Peh said.
Blockchain analysts, however, flagged suspicious transactions linked to the project. Conor Grogan pointed out that the LIBRA deploying wallet received funds from an exchange that does not require Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.
LIBRA Insiders Cash Out $107 Million Before Token Collapse
Lookonchain analysis revealed that before LIBRA’s price plummeted, insiders moved $107 million from the project.
- Eight wallets associated with LIBRA transferred $57.6 million in USDC and 249,671 SOL, valued at $50 million.
- Crypto analyst EmberCN reported that insiders made $20.18 million by buying LIBRA immediately after Milei’s tweet and selling during the price peak.
These transactions raised concerns about liquidity manipulation and pre-planned withdrawals.
Political Meme Coins Face More Scrutiny After LIBRA Crash
The LIBRA fallout has intensified concerns about politically affiliated meme coins. Similar scrutiny surrounded the TRUMP token in January and the Central African Republic’s CAR meme coin, both of which saw price spikes before doubts emerged.
Industry voices reacted to LIBRA’s situation. Andre Cronje, co-founder of Sonic Labs, commented on meme coin traders and their lack of involvement in decentralized finance.
“[Meme coin traders] are a demographic that doesn’t care about decentralized finance or even blockchains. So memes aren’t stealing any attention, since the participants weren’t our participants in the first place,”
Cronje said.
Meanwhile, SlowMist founder Yu Xian called for accountability, saying those responsible should be punished by law.
“Support everyone in defending your rights; the instigator must be punished by law, and hopefully, they will also face the President’s wrath,”
The LIBRA meme coin incident has reignited debates about investor protection and regulatory oversight in crypto markets
