Recently, the President of Argentina has become embroiled in a major controversy for supporting the meme coin Libra, leading to an internal investigation by the Argentine presidential palace, while the opposition plans to impeach him. The price of Libra coin surged to $5 when it was launched last weekend, only to quickly fall back to just a few cents, resulting in significant profits for early investors and huge losses for those who bought in later. The President faced widespread criticism from investors for his public backing of the Libra coin before its launch.
Meanwhile, the Libra coin incident has triggered wider market turbulence. Argentina's benchmark stock index, the Merval, fell by about 5.6% on Monday, marking its steepest drop since last July, as many investors opted to sell off stocks of local Argentine companies to mitigate risks. Experts believe that the sharp rise and fall of Libra was not accidental but rather involved premeditated manipulation.
Further investigation reveals that the flow of funds into the Libra coin is similar to the issuance of the former U.S. First Lady Melania coin. Analysis indicates that both tokens may have been orchestrated by the same entity. The related flow of funds shows that a key wallet accumulated millions of dollars through early price inflation, which was later transferred to accounts associated with the coin's creators. This pattern of financial operation is akin to the issuance of the Melania coin, which experienced similar surges and crashes, resulting in severe investor losses.
In response to the scandal, Libra's co-issuers have announced plans to return the profits to the token buyers, claiming that it is not a mere scam but an international event. Nonetheless, dissatisfaction was expressed towards Argentine President Milei, suggesting that his retraction of support for the Libra coin was a crucial factor in its price collapse.
The scandal has not only exacerbated market anxiety but also further deteriorated the public image of the Argentine President. Some investors have stated that they invested in Libra due to Milei's supportive comments, only to suffer considerable financial losses in the end.
