$LIBRA: The Argentine memecoin that fooled investors and challenged Javier Milei

• Milei promoted Argentine memecoin LIBRA.
• 2.000% appreciation and drastic fall.
• President backtracked on LIBRA.

the universe of memecoins has recently featured another intriguing chapter involving the president of Argentina, Javier Milei. The case of the LIBRA memecoin, which saw its market value reach the mark of US$4,4 billion before plummeting precipitously, raises a series of questions about the role of public figures in promoting digital assets and the risks inherent in this market.

It all started with a now-deleted tweet in which Milei endorsed the Libra memecoin, describing it as a private project dedicated to boosting the Argentine economy. The post included a Solana contract address linked to the token, which triggered a wave of enthusiasm among investors.

Within just 40 minutes of the tweet, Libra’s value soared by over 2.000%, reaching an impressive market cap. However, the joy was short-lived. Shortly after, a group of early holders began liquidating their tokens, causing the memecoin’s price to plummet.

“We have just witnessed one of the largest and fastest wealth destructions in the history of retail trading. The Argentine memecoin, $LIBRA, wiped out -$4,5 billion of retail capital in 7 hours. Truly destructive.” wrote the account on X “KobeissiLetter”.

Given the negative repercussions of the case, President Milei spoke out, stating that he was not aware of the details of the Libra project and that he had no connection with the company behind the memecoin. He acknowledged that his initial tweet was a mistake and that he decided not to continue promoting the project after learning about its details.

“A few hours ago I posted a tweet, like so many other countless times, supporting a supposed private enterprise to which I obviously have no connection. The details of the project were not internalized and after they were internalized they decided not to continue spreading it (that's why he deleted the tweet). To the filthy rats of the political caste who want to approve this situation to make them want to say that every day they confirm the trackers that are the politicians, and increase our conviction of kicking them in the ass. VLC!”, highlighted .

The Libra sell-off didn't just affect memecoin investors, but also reverberated across other cryptocurrencies, such as US President Donald Trump's TRUMP, which also saw its market value drop sharply after the incident.

At the time of publication, the LIBRA price was quoted at $0,1779 with a drop of 24.1% in the last 24 hours.