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Argentina court drops crypto fraud probe into President Milei
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A criminal investigation into Argentine President Javier Milei and his sister Karina Milei over a cryptocurrency scandal has been dropped. Federal judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi dismissed the case at the request of prosecutors, concluding that the reported events did not fall under a legal category and that no criminally relevant deception had been proven. The allegations arose after Milei posted about the $Libra cryptocurrency on X in February 2025, which surged in value before he deleted the post and the coin collapsed, causing major investor losses. Milei denied promoting the coin, saying he acted in good faith and merely shared it, and that investors participated voluntarily and knew the risks. Opposition members had planned impeachment proceedings, and some online accused Milei of a "rug pull." Milei has not yet responded to the case being dropped.
Source report
Image caption: Javier Milei had denied crypto fraud allegations
By Adam Goldsmith
A criminal investigation into Argentine President Javier Milei and his sister's links to a cryptocurrency scandal has been dropped.
The case against Milei and his sister Karina Milei was dismissed by federal judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi at the request of prosecutors, court records show.
The Argentinian president had denied promoting the newly launched cryptocoin $Libra, which collapsed shortly after he mentioned it in a social media post in February 2025.
He said he had acted "in good faith" when the cryptocurrency rose in value, before crashing and causing huge losses for the majority of its investors. Milei is yet to respond to news of the case being dropped.
Dismissing the case, the judge said "the reported events do not fall under a legal category" and concluded that no "criminally relevant deception" had been proven.
Background
Accusations of fraud arose when Milei posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the $Libra coin, which he said at the time would help fund small businesses and start-ups.
The cryptocurrency's price subsequently shot up when the Argentine president shared a link to buy it.
But, within a few hours, he deleted his post and the crypto nosedived in value, losing investors most of their money.
It led opposition members of Congress to plan impeachment proceedings, while some online accused Milei of a "rug pull" — in which promoters of a cryptocurrency draw in buyers only to stop trading activity and make off with the money raised from sales.
Milei's Response
The Argentinian president, though, insisted in an interview with Todo Noticias: "I didn't promote it, I merely shared it."
The presidential office insisted that Milei was in no way involved in the development of $Libra and announced that the Anti-Corruption Office would determine whether the president had acted improperly.
Milei himself 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".
He insisted in a TV interview that those who had invested in $Libra had done so "voluntarily" and knew of the risks.
Related topics
- Argentina
- Cryptocurrency
Source
BBC NewsWestern
Part of this Story
Argentine Judge Drops Fraud Investigation Into President Milei Over $LIBRA Crypto Collapse