National economy Argentina: Milei denies allegations of crypto advertising
Following the collapse of a cryptocurrency he had advertised, Argentina's President Javier Milei has rejected accusations that he had promoted the project. "I didn't promote it, I disseminated it," Milei said on the TN channel on Monday.
18.02.2025, 03:56
SDA
The transactions or the subsequent collapse of the cryptocurrency were "a problem between private individuals". The state had "no role" in this. He himself had acted "in good faith".
Milei had previously advertised the cryptocurrency $LIBRA, which was described by experts as a Ponzi scheme, on the online service X. According to Argentinian media reports, Milei had referred to the project on X on Friday evening, the aim of which was to "boost the growth of the Argentinian economy by financing small businesses and Argentinian entrepreneurs".
Just a few hours later, Milei deleted the post and explained that he had decided to stop promoting the project after learning more about it. Shortly after Milei's advertisement, the cryptocurrency had reached a record price - and then crashed.
Special unit to investigate the case
Following the collapse of the cryptocurrency, Milei ordered an investigation into the case. He told the online service X on Saturday that he had not known the details of the project and "obviously had no connection" to it.
The Argentine presidential office explained that in view of the events, Milei himself had called in the anti-corruption authority OA "to investigate whether a member of the government, including the president, had acted improperly". Milei was in no way involved in the development of the cryptocurrency. A special unit of the OA will also investigate the creation of the cryptocurrency and all companies and individuals associated with it.
The Buenos Aires stock exchange closed on Monday down almost six percent on Friday's close. Some shares fell by up to eight percent.
