The recent statements by Hayden Mark Davis, co-founder of the cryptocurrency Libra, have sparked a heated political and media debate in Argentina. Davis claimed to have “full control” over the Argentine president Javier Milei through alleged payments to the president’s sister, Karina Milei.
These revelations emerged in the context of a financial scandal linked to the collapse of the memecoin’s value, which caused giant losses for thousands of investors. That of Libra indeed represents a story made of murky deals and unscrupulous speculations.
Let’s see everything in detail below.
The Libra case: the memecoin scam promoted by the President of Argentina Javier Milei
The story of Libra begins on Friday, January 14, when Javier Milei, President of Argentina, publishes a tweet on X in which he praises the cryptocurrency as a promising investment opportunity. Milei’s followers immediately rushed to buy the memecoin, convinced they were seizing a speculative opportunity similar to the one seen with the cryptocurrency launched by Trump. However, the launch of Libra was not exactly as successful as that of the coin sponsored by the American colleague.
In the first hour of trading, it attracted many investors, growing to 4.4 billion dollars, but then something went wrong: the Head of State of Argentina deleted his tweet published shortly before, and the value of Libra plummeted by over 90%. In no time, hundreds of millions of dollars vanished into thin air, leaving the users who believed in the project holding the short end of the stick.
Immediately, the scandal erupted in Argentina: several political opponents have called for Milei’s impeachment, while others have raised doubts of financial fraud.
In the meantime, the FBI and Argentine justice have begun conducting in-depth investigations into the incident. In response to the accusations, President Milei denied any illicit involvement, stating that he had simply shared information about the cryptocurrency without officially promoting it.
In the midst of this chaos, about 74,000 traders who had invested in Libra suffered financial losses, varying in severity. Most of them lost less than 10,000 dollars. Just over 2,400 people saw a loss between 10,000 and 50,000 dollars, while 438 lost between 50,000 and 100,000 dollars, and 318 between 100,000 and 250,000 dollars. Here the numbers start to become impressive: 87 traders lost between 250,000 and 500,000 dollars, 52 between 500,000 and 1 million dollars, and 25 unlucky ones saw over 1 million dollars vanish, ending up gifting it to the insiders.
The creator of Libra says he paid Milei’s sister and can do whatever he wants
Making the Libra affair even more unsettling is the intervention of Hayden Davis, a well-known cryptographic consultant who self-proclaims as the co-creator of the controversial token promoted by the president of Argentina. According to the newspaper Coindesk, Davis allegedly claimed to be able to “control” Milei thanks to the payments he had made to Karina Milei, the sister of the President himself. Furthermore, he claimed to be able to convince Milei to promote cryptographic initiatives on social media.
Karina Milei, a key figure in her brother’s government, currently holds the position of Secretary General of the Presidency of the Argentine Nation. It is not clear exactly what kind of transaction took place between her and Davis, nor the amounts involved. We do know, however, that the Libra consultant stated the following in a screenshot of a chat between him and a collaborator:
“I control that negro,” Davis stated in some mid-December text messages, adding: “I send $$ to his sister and he signs everything I say and does what I want”.
Immediately after these details became public, a spokesperson for Davis denied the incident, stating that these alleged payments never existed. According to the statement, there would have been no exchange or monetary request, but rather an agreement to ensure that the proceeds from Libra would benefit the Argentine economy.
Apparently, however, the sales of Libra seem to have benefited only the team of Davis and the insiders involved in this suspicious deal. His team would have indeed accumulated assets worth over 100 million dollars just in the first hours of trading.
The Argentine press has described this saga as “criptogate,” highlighting a strongly fraudulent component.
A story of corruption and insider trading that goes beyond the heart of Argentina
The story of Libra does not originate in Argentina, but has international roots. In the hours following the rugpull of the memecoin, several on-chain investigators discovered that Davis’s wallets were connected to those that had been sniping the memecoin Melania. This means that the creator of the coin had already collaborated alongside political figures (such as the Trump administration) to orchestrate a memecoin initiative aimed at using buyers’ money as exit liquidity.
Davis does not exactly agree with this interpretation and claims not to be involved in a scam, but rather in a social experiment. A launch that did not go according to plan, but that would have earned him a million-dollar treasure. According to what the consultant himself stated in an interview with Coffeezilla:
“[Libra] is not a rug, it is a plan that went miserably wrong with 100 million dollars stuck in [an] account of which I am the custodian“.
These statements, already shocking in themselves due to the arrogant tone with which Davis intends to address such a delicate topic, are not over yet. The co-creator of Libra explicitly says that the goal of the plan was to remove liquidity, justifying the move with the excuse of having to get rid of the sniper who had purchased the token immediately after the launch.
In practice, Davis would have sold stakes for 100 million dollars just to prevent the snipers from getting rich and to “crush the entire project.” In reality, dear readers, these justifications suggest a reality quite different from the one described by the subject, made of market manipulation and insider trading.
If the intent had truly been to safeguard the project, Davis’s team should not have sold even a cent of Libra, and there should not have been million-dollar profits behind it. Anyone involved in this story knew very well that they would deceive tens of thousands of people just for personal gain.
Unfortunately, this is the world of memecoins on Solana, made up of unscrupulous people and speculation that goes beyond the logic of dignity and honesty that should constitute a civil and democratic society.
