Argentine President Milei ends investigation into the $Libra collapse
After the collapse of the memecoin $Libra, an investigation unit was supposed to clear up the case. President Milei disbanded it and ended the investigation.
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The Argentinian government has dissolved by decree an investigative unit that was supposed to clear up a scandal surrounding the cryptocurrency $Libra. The Unidade de Tareas de InvestigaciĂłn (UTI) was set up just three months ago and was supposed to investigate the role of President Javier Milei and his sister in the matter, among other things.
The decree, which was published in an official gazette, states that the UTI has fulfilled its task. It will therefore be dissolved. The decree was signed by Milei and Justice Minister Mariano CĂşneo Libarona.
Milei had advertised$Libra in a post on the short message platform X in February. The value of the cryptocurrency, which had only been created 23 minutes earlier, rose very quickly. After a short time, however, the price collapsed again.
The vast majority of investors lost money as a result. The market research company Nansen Research estimated the losses at several hundred million US dollars. A few accounts, on the other hand, made very good money from the campaign. Together, they realized a profit of 180 million US dollars, as Nansen determined.
Did Milei violate the law?
Milei deleted his post after a few hours. He was not aware of the details of the project. After informing himself, he decided not to disseminate it any further, the president explained at the time. Legal experts subsequently stated that Milei may have violated the law with his advertising for $Libra. The president rudely rejected criticism of his actions.
The government set up the investigative unit following political pressure. Among other things, the UTI was to investigate whether there was market manipulation and whether government representatives were involved. With the dissolution of the UTI, the government is ending its investigation into the matter.
Parliament set up an inquiry committee in April – against the wishes of the government. The committee summoned Justice Minister Cúneo Libarona and Economy Minister Luis Caputo, among others, but neither of them appeared.
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The $Libra case is reminiscent of a so-called “rug pull”. This involves setting up a new cryptocurrency and collecting money from investors. The initiators of the rug pull grab the money and disappear with it. The investors are left with worthless tokens.
(wpl)
