Libra Memecoin Backed by Argentina’s President Javier Milei Sparks Rug Pull Concerns: All Details

The crypto market took a success over the weekend following a memecoin controversy. Argentina’s President Javier Milei promoted the Libra memecoin on his official X account final Friday. According to the Buenos Aires Herald, his now-deleted tweet claimed the token might increase the nationwide financial system. Reports point out that inside hours of launch, Libra’s worth surged 3,000 %, pushing its market cap to $4.5 billion (roughly Rs. 39,090 crore). However, the shopping for frenzy was short-lived.

The Rise and Fall of Libra

President Milei’s endorsement rapidly drew international crypto buyers to the Libra memecoin. Within hours of its launch, its worth surged after which plummeted, sparking widespread rug-pull hypothesis on social media. In a typical rug-pull, builders launch, promote, and inflate a crypto venture earlier than abandoning it—leaving buyers with losses whereas they revenue.

In a tweet analysing the token, Arkham Intelligence mentioned it was primarily based on the Solana blockchain. After the valuation of the memecoin exceeded $4 billion (roughly Rs. 34,730 crore), issues reportedly began to alter. President Milei’s tweet selling the token was deleted from his X deal with – elevating suspicions concerning the legitimacy of the put up. This led to the worth of the token dropping by 95 %.

Eight crypto wallets which were recognized to be linked to the Libra token collectively maintain 83 % of the token provide, The Block reported over the weekend, citing information by LookOnChain.

A blockchain analytics instrument, LookOnChain has been monitoring the Libra token all through the weekend. On February 15, it claimed that the ‘Libra workforce’ internally cashed out $107 million (roughly Rs. 929 crore) by “including liquidity, eradicating liquidity and claiming charges”.

As per crypto agency Imk, over 24 pockets addresses recorded losses of over $1 million (roughly Rs. 8.68 crore) after Libra worth sunk.

The worth of the Libra token, that had climbed to $5 (roughly Rs. 435) after its launch, presently stands at $0.3678 (roughly Rs. 31), as per DEX Scanner. Its current market cap is $367.8 million (roughly Rs. 3,195 crore).

Aftermath of Libra Collapse

Early on February 15, President Milei tweeted a warning, advising individuals to keep away from participating with Libra.

“I used to be not conscious of the venture’s particulars, and after turning into knowledgeable, I made a decision to not proceed selling it (that is why I deleted the tweet),” he mentioned, including that this was a political assault on him.

Several Argentine attorneys have now filed complaints towards President Milei, accusing him of selling fraud. As per the Associate Press, the President’s workplace has denied his involvement within the creation of the crypto token.

Key Details Related to the Controversy

Crypto intelligence agency Bubblemaps has linked the workforce behind Libra memecoin to these behind the not too long ago launched memecoins of US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. Both $Trump and $Melania adopted an analogous sample to Libra, with preliminary worth surges adopted by sharp declines.

Hayden Mark Davis identifies himself because the launch strategist for Libra. In a YouTube video he admitted to overseeing the Libra and Melania token launches.

An AI-focussed Web3 agency known as The Kip Protocol, that has been named by the Argentina authorities as being associated to Davis, has denied any hyperlinks to him. “KIP had no enterprise dealings with Hayden Mark Davis (“Davis”). At no time did Mr Peh (CEO) or every other worker of KIP Protocol make any representations about Davis being a associate of KIP or every other representations about Davis. At no time was Davis a worker or consultant of KIP Protocol,” the agency has mentioned.

The Kip Protocol additionally said that the launch of the Libra token was dealt with by a agency known as Kelsier Venturer, which is represented by Davis.

Several particulars across the Libra token debacle nonetheless stay unclear as of now.