Argentina's Milei Denies LIBRA Memecoin Ties as Value Plummets 96%

Argentina's President Javier Milei has found himself in the spotlight after denying any connection to the LIBRA memecoin, which he initially promoted. The memecoin, launched just seven hours ago, has already seen a 96% drop in value, wiping out over $4 billion in market capitalization.

In a statement on X, President Milei claimed that he had no ties with the team behind LIBRA and that he stopped promoting the project after becoming aware of its details. However, an analysis report by Bubblemaps suggests that project insiders pocketed $87 million by being the sole sellers of the token. The report also indicates that the insiders' cash-out added sell pressure on the memecoin, dragging its market cap from over $3 billion to below $200 million at press time.

The decline of LIBRA mirrors other "presidential memecoins" launched by the Central African Republic and Donald Trump. In mid-January, the official TRUMP memecoin peaked at $15 billion in market cap but soon dropped by 80%, exposing investors to a $2 billion loss. In February, President Faustin Archange of the Central African Republic launched the CAR memecoin, which dumped by 98% from its $1 billion market size to below $20 million in less than a week.

The similarity and level of value extraction from these memecoins have led some to speculate that they might be run by well-connected 'grifters.' Argentinian crypto analyst Alex Kruger has termed the LIBRA project a 'cam.'