What is LIBRA? The Solana Meme Coin That Sparked a Political Scandal

By Jason Nelson

Argentina’s foray into cryptocurrency took a dramatic turn when President Javier Milei tweeted in support of LIBRA, a Solana-based meme coin. Within hours, LIBRA crashed nearly 90%, sparking accusations of fraud and calls for Milei’s impeachment.

Among the outside entities involved with the launch of LIBRA were Kelsier Ventures, headed by CEO Hayden Davis; KIP Protocol, led by CEO Julian Peh; and Solana-based platform Meteora, which had previously facilitated launches for both the Donald and Melania Trump meme coins.

Following LIBRA's collapse, Argentina’s stock market dropped more than 5% at its opening on February 17, 2025. This article will examine LIBRA and the scandal surrounding the latest meme coin craze.

What is LIBRA?

The LIBRA token, created by the Viva La Libertad Project, was promoted as a funding tool for Argentina's small businesses and innovative projects—an unusual use case for a meme coin, which are mostly driven by internet phenomena, celebrities, and humor.

“This private project will be dedicated to encouraging the growth of the Argentine economy by funding small Argentine businesses and startups,” Milei said in a since-deleted post that included the project website and contract address. Milei has subsequently denied having any advance knowledge of the LIBRA project.

Image: X

LIBRA has a max supply of 1 billion tokens. According to the Libertad Project website, LIBRA token distribution would split 50% to Argentina Growth, 20% to Treasury, and 30% to Liquidity.

On February 17, 2025, the token reached an all-time high of $0.75, according to CoinGecko data. At the time, LIBRA’s market capitalization had reached $4.5 billion. Hours later, it sharply declined, triggering fraud investigations and impeachment calls against Milei.

A short timeline of events: the LIBRA token scandal

On February 15, 2025, the Office of the President provided a timeline of early events related to the creation and launch of the LIBRA meme coin.

October 19, 2024 – Initial meeting with KIP Protocol

• The Office of the President reported that President Javier Milei met with representatives of the KIP Protocol in Argentina.
• The representatives informed Milei of their intention to develop a project called "Viva la Libertad" using blockchain technology to finance private ventures in Argentina.

January 30, 2025 – Meeting with Hayden Mark Davis

• President Milei held a meeting at Casa Rosada with Hayden Mark Davis.
• According to KIP Protocol representatives, Davis would provide the technological infrastructure for the project.
• The Office of the President clarified that Davis had no prior connection with the Argentine government and was presented as a partner of KIP Protocol.

February 17, 2025 – The rise and fall of LIBRA

• Milei promotes LIBRA: Argentina’s President Javier Milei announced the launch of the Solana-based meme coin LIBRA, which was promoted as a way to fund small businesses and startups.
• Pre-Launch insider activity: According to a report by TRM Labs, 20 minutes before Milei’s announcement, an address received 1 million $LIBRA tokens and added them to a Meteora liquidity pool.
• All-time high: LIBRA reached $0.75, giving it a market capitalization of $4.5 billion.
• Rapid decline: The price crashed nearly 90% within hours, triggering accusations of fraud and a pump-and-dump scheme.
• Liquidity withdrawals: Wallets linked to the LIBRA team withdrew $7.8 million in SOL, contributing to the price collapse.

February 18, 2025 – The fallout begins

• Argentina’s stock market dropped more than 5% at the opening in Buenos Aires, adding to financial instability.
• Milei deleted his post promoting LIBRA and denied prior knowledge of the project, as a judge was assigned to head a probe into fraud allegations.
• Investors accused KIP Protocol and its CEO, Julian Peh, Kelsier Ventures and its CEO, Hayden Davis, Mauricio Novelli, and Manuel Godoy of the Tech Forum Argentina of wrongdoing in the LIBRA scandal.

Insider trading allegations

Experts suspect the LIBRA token collapsed due to insider activity. According to San Francisco-based analytics firm TRM Labs, 20 minutes before President Milei’s tweet, one address received 1 million LIBRA tokens, added them to a Meteora liquidity pool, and distributed more to other addresses that did the same.

Soon after, on-chain investigation firm Bubblemaps identified that wallets linked to the LIBRA team had withdrawn $87 million in SOL from the pool, gradually crashing LIBRA’s price.

In addition to allegations of fraud against Milei, investors accused KIP Protocol and its CEO, Julian Peh, Kelsier Ventures and its CEO, Hayden Davis, Mauricio Novelli, and Manuel Godoy of the Tech Forum Argentina of wrongdoing in the LIBRA scandal.

On February 17, 2025, Davis told Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy that Davis was “sitting on $100 million” following LIBRA’s launch—further fueling the controversy. Davis claimed he did not intend to run off with the money.

“It’s not mine,” Davis said. “It’s Argentina’s.”

That same day, on-chain analysis revealed that the Solana-based platform Meteora—known for creating the TRUMP and MELANIA meme coins—was also behind the LIBRA token. Following the collapse of LIBRA and emerging insider trading allegations, Meteora co-founder Ben Chow resigned.

In a tweet, Solana-based exchange Jupiter said that the launch of LIBRA had been an "open secret" in meme coin circles. The exchange said that it found no evidence of insider trading or “sniping” by its own team members following an internal investigation, adding that the company takes claims of insider trading “EXTREMELY seriously.”

“The memecoin launch game is a dirty game with plenty of ugly behavior,” Jupiter wrote. “We, however, have nothing to hide.”

“We were completely unaware of the dealings between the principals, in this case Milei and the market makers, and were not involved in it in any way, shape, or form," Jupiter added.

According to a report by Nansen, only 14% of LIBRA investors turned a profit, collectively making $180 million from the token's launch, while 86% of those who invested in LIBRA lost $251 million.

Notably, per data from Nansen, two wallets that purchased $LIBRA at 22:01 UTC and sold by 22:44 UTC on February 14 collectively profited $5.4 million, with one wallet, HyzGo2, pocketing $5.1 million. Meanwhile, Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy lost $6.3 million in investing in Libra but was later refunded $5 million.

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