"Libra's $251M Meltdown: 86% of Traders Burned, Portnoy Loses $6.3M"

The recent Libra (LIBRA) memecoin saga has left investors with staggering losses, totaling over $251 million, according to blockchain research firm Nansen. The pump-and-dump scheme, which involved a rapid increase in the token's price followed by a dramatic crash, has left 86% of wallets that traded the token with losses exceeding $1,000.

Out of the 15,430 wallets that participated in the trading, only 2,101 managed to exit with realized profits, collectively pocketing just $180 million. Analysts have noted that insiders cashed out early, leaving unsuspecting retail investors to bear the brunt of the crash. The distribution of losses was significant, with 1,478 wallets losing between $1,000 and $10,000, totaling $4.8 million in damages. More than 2,800 wallets saw losses between $10,000 and $100,000, adding up to a massive $82.4 million. Meanwhile, 392 wallets suffered losses between $100,000 and $1 million, and 23 wallets lost over $1 million each, with combined losses amounting to $40.9 million.

Among the biggest losers was Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, whose wallet registered a steepest realized loss of $6.3 million. Portnoy initially received 6 million LIBRA tokens as payment for promoting the project but later returned them, claiming he wanted no involvement in the scandal.

As the dust settles, the fallout from the LIBRA debacle is far from over. Burwick Law, the firm leading lawsuits against Pump.fun and Hawk Tuah (HAWK) memecoin creators, has begun gathering hundreds of claims from affected investors and is considering legal action. The key figures behind the LIBRA launch, Hayden Davis and Julian Peh, have come under intense scrutiny. Davis, who was allegedly one of the biggest beneficiaries, has denied directly owning or selling any LIBRA tokens, despite claims that he and his firm profited around $100 million from the token's launch.

Argentine President Javier Milei, whose brief endorsement of