Argentine President Javier Milei briefly promoted a crypto token meant to support local businesses, only to delete the post hours later after public outcry over potential fraud.
On Friday, Milei took to X (formerly Twitter) to endorse the LIBRA token, claiming it would raise funds for small and medium-sized businesses in Argentina. He emphasized that the project was privately run and insisted he had no personal financial interest in it. But his post quickly set off alarms. Was his account hacked, or had he unknowingly fallen for a scam?
The LIBRA token’s name seemed to reference Milei’s political party, ‘La Libertad Avanza,’ or his libertarian economic philosophy. He later told Bloomberg that he had met with the token’s creators, KIP Protocol, months ago. A blog post on the company’s website even features a selfie of its co-founder with Milei, dated October 20.
As skepticism grew, X’s community notes flagged warnings about the coin, pointing out that crypto scams, especially “rug pulls,” are widespread online. Five hours after his initial post, Milei removed it, explaining that he was “not aware of the details of the project” and chose to stop promoting it once he learned more.
Despite being favored by Wall Street, Milei has struggled to attract foreign investment. His administration is making headway in taming inflation and pushing pro-business policies, but Argentina’s complex currency controls still hold things back. The country’s economy is expected to bounce back in 2025 after two rough years of recession.
Compounding Milei’s challenges, U.S. tariffs imposed by Donald Trump could disproportionately affect Argentina. Meanwhile, Nissan is scaling back production, and Mercedes-Benz is exiting Argentina after 70 years. The country’s key agricultural trade route, the Rio Paraná, also faces setbacks after the government canceled a dredging auction due to a lack of bids.
Still, Milei ended his now-deleted crypto post with optimism, declaring, “The world wants to invest in Argentina” and signing off with his signature phrase: “Long live freedom, damn it.”
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