The cryptocurrency scandal involving President Milei in Argentina is escalating. The opposition announced that it will initiate an impeachment process against Milei on fraud charges. The incident has been deemed the biggest crisis of the Milei presidency. As the Argentine stock market crashes, the peso loses value. It has emerged that the cryptocurrency named LIBRA also has connections to Melania Trump. Argentine President Javier Milei initially expressed support for a cryptocurrency called LIBRA and then withdrew it.
The meme coin project in question caused investors to lose millions of dollars. The value of LIBRA rapidly soared to over $4 and then dropped below 50 cents. Investors accused the developers of scamming, a practice known as rug pull. It was alleged that the developers inflated the price of the cryptocurrency before pulling out their initial investments. The opposition has filed dozens of lawsuits accusing Milei of ethical violations for supporting the project. The leftist Peronist opposition bloc claimed that Milei participated in cryptocurrency fraud, triggering the process of his removal from office.
This incident has been described as the biggest crisis since Milei took office in December 2023. The presidential office stated that Milei had met with representatives of companies issuing the cryptocurrency twice but had not been involved in its development in any way. It was reported that Milei’s social media posts were intended for promoting Argentine businesses. The President reportedly sought help from the anti-corruption office to investigate whether he or any government official engaged in any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the crisis of the Milei era also struck the stock market. The Argentine market plummeted by more than 5% on Monday. The country’s currency, peso, lost 2% in value against the dollar in the foreign exchange market. Experts noted that the crisis would reinforce suspicions amongst foreign investors about the government’s political capacity.
It was noted that fears about the stability of the country’s reform program could increase. For Milei to be removed from office, a two-thirds majority in Congress is required. However, under the current circumstances, the opposition is not likely to reach that number.
It is mentioned that the central blocs in Parliament are unlikely to support the proposal. On the other hand, the cryptocurrency analysis company Bubblemaps claimed that there was a connection between the MELANIA meme coin issued on behalf of Donald Trump’s wife and LIBRA. The company stated that there were concrete pieces of evidence suggesting that the same team was behind both cryptocurrencies. According to the research, transactions were made from the same wallet addresses in both cryptocurrency assets.