Argentina’s President Javier Milei just sent shockwaves through the crypto world, and not in a good way
But within just five hours, the market cap of $LIBRA and other memecoins crashed, erasing a staggering $6 billion in value.
At 5:01 PM ET on February 15, Milei posted about the launch of $LIBRA. The crypto community immediately debated whether it was real or a hack. When other Argentinian politicians confirmed the news, traders rushed in, pushing $LIBRA’s market cap to a peak of $4.6 billion. But something smelled fishy.
The project’s website, hastily created hours before launch, claimed $LIBRA would fund small businesses—but the application form was just a simple Google Form. Worse still, the domain was registered for only one year, had no public owner, and had multiple restricted domain statuses. The red flags were everywhere.
Within the first three hours, insiders dumped $87.4 million worth of $LIBRA. Bubblemaps analysis revealed that 82% of the token supply was controlled by a single cluster, and no tokenomics were shared publicly. Even worse, insiders manipulated liquidity pools by removing USD and SOL, ensuring they could cash out without triggering a price drop—until they drained every last drop of liquidity.
By 5:40 PM ET, the memecoin collapsed in a straight line. Retail traders were left holding the bag as large holders cashed out millions. At one point, only 27% of transactions were sales, meaning big-money players controlled most of the action.
As $LIBRA crashed, its impact rippled through the memecoin space. The $TRUMP coin, another high-profile political token, saw its market cap drop by $500 million. Over 50,000 wallets held $LIBRA within two hours of launch, but the entire market was bleeding. In total, over $6 billion in market cap vanished within hours.
After the damage was done, Milei backpedaled. He claimed he was “not aware of the details of the project” and deleted his original post. But by then, it was too late—the memecoin market had already been drained dry.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei has ordered the creation of a special task force to launch an urgent investigation into the Libra token launch, aiming to uncover any irregularities or misconduct. The probe will scrutinize every company and individual involved in the operation, assessing potential legal, financial, and regulatory violations.
With concerns over transparency and market manipulation, the government is taking swift action to ensure that Argentina’s financial system is not exploited. This move signals Milei’s commitment to enforcing stricter oversight in the rapidly evolving crypto space.
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BTCJavier Milei just DESTROYED the memecoin market: Hours ago, Argentinian President Milei launched a memecoin, $LIBRA, for "the growth of their economy." Within 5 hours, over -$4.4 BILLION of market cap was erased. Is this the biggest rug pull in history? (a thread)
Right off the bat, something seemed off about this project. The website says the purpose of this launch is "to boost the Argentine economy by funding small projects." The icing on the cake? The website literally links to a Google Form to "apply for funding." Strange.
As Bubblemaps notes below, insiders were adding one-sided liquidity pools on Meteora with only $LIBRA. They were removing USD and SOL and used these liquidity pools instead of selling on the market. $LIBRA fell 90%+ as the $87.4M in sales absorbed all buy pressure at the top.
BREAKING: ARGENTINA PRESIDENT @JMilei HAS DECIDED TO CREATE A TASK FORCE TO LAUNCH AN URGENT INVESTIGATION INTO THE LIBRA TOKEN LAUNCH AND EVERY COMPANY AND INDIVIDUAL INVOLVED IN THE OPERATION
