Argentina drops investigation into President Milei over crypto fraud
Javier Milei had denied acting fraudulently when a cryptocurrency nosedived after he deleted a social media post about it.
Argentina drops investigation into President Milei over crypto fraud
A criminal probe into Argentine President Javier Milei and his sister’s ties to a cryptocurrency scandal has been dismissed.
Federal judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi threw out the case against Milei and his sister Karina Milei at the request of prosecutors, according to court records.
The Argentine president had denied promoting the newly launched cryptocoin $Libra, which collapsed soon after he referred to it in a social media post in February 2025.
He said he had acted “in good faith” when the cryptocurrency gained value before crashing and leaving the vast majority of investors with heavy losses. Milei has not yet commented on the news that the case has been dropped.
In dismissing the case, the judge said “the reported events do not fall under a legal category,” and ruled that no “criminally relevant deception” had been shown.
The fraud allegations emerged after Milei posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the $Libra coin, saying at the time that it would help finance small businesses and start-ups.
The cryptocurrency’s price then surged after the Argentine president shared a link to buy it.
But within hours, he removed the post and the crypto plunged in value, wiping out most of investors’ money.
The episode prompted opposition lawmakers to prepare impeachment proceedings, while some online accused Milei of a “rug pull” — a scheme in which cryptocurrency promoters attract buyers, then halt trading and disappear with the money raised from sales.
Still, the Argentine president maintained: “I didn’t promote it, I merely shared it” in an interview with local media Todo Noticias’.
The presidential office said Milei had no involvement in the creation of $Libra and announced that the Anti-Corruption Office would decide whether the president had acted improperly.
Milei also defended deleting his post, saying that at the time he did not know “the details of the project and after learning about it, I decided not to continue promoting it”.
And in a TV interview, he said those who invested in $Libra had done so “voluntarily” and were aware of the risks.