Argentine prosecutors to probe Milei over 'cryptogate'

BUENOS AIRES

Argentine prosecutors will investigate President Javier Milei for promoting a cryptocurrency that crashed, losing investors billions of dollars and prompting a flood of complaints, local media have reported. 

The federal prosecutor's office will examine whether Milei engaged in fraud or criminal association or was in breach of his duties when he praised the $LIBRA cryptocurrency on social media on Feb14 evening, according to news reports.

The currency's value soared then crashed, and Milei deleted his blessing hours later, saying he had made a mistake.

Argentine economists, crypto specialists and opposition political figures criticized the self-declared "anarcho-capitalist" president, an economist by training, and said the digital asset could be a fraud or a Ponzi scheme.

Industry observers said the operation was likely a "rug pull", a scam where developers unveil a crypto token, attract investors, then quickly cash out.

Rights NGO Observatory for the Right to the City, one of several complainants, alleges Milei formed part of a "criminal organization that organized a fraud with the $LIBRA cryptocurrency that simultaneously affected more than 40,000 people with losses of more than $4 billion."

Milei later said he did not know "the details of the project and after learning about it, I decided not to continue promoting it."

He added he had "obviously no connection" with the "alleged private company."