"We just witnessed one of the fastest and largest destructions of wealth in retail trading history," noted The Kobeissi Letter, which tracks capital markets, in a social media post. "Argentina's memecoin, $LIBRA, erased -$4.5 billion of retail capital in seven hours. Truly destructive."
In the first 40 minutes after Milei first tweeted boosting the coin, its value rose by more than 2,000%, CoinDesk reported. However, it then began to fall as early investors sold their shares, eventually plummeting 95% from a maximum value of $4.4 billion.
Crypto experts warned the $LIBRA coin, which was developed by KIP Protocol and Hayden Davis, could be a "rug pull," a scam in which a crypto developer launches and inflates a coin only to pull out and leave investors hanging.
"Milei's participation in the crime of crypto fraud is extremely serious," the Lower House bloc of the Peronist Unión por la Patria, a center-left opposition group, wrote on social media Saturday. "It's a scandal without precedent. Our bloc of national deputies has decided to move forward with presenting an impeachment request against the president of the nation."
Opposition lawmaker Leandro Santoro further called Milei's actions a "scandal, which embarrasses us on an international scale" and "requires us to launch an impeachment request against the president."
On Sunday, Socialist Party lawmaker Esteban Paulón also called for impeachment proceedings.
"If as a president of a country you propose something for private benefit there is an obvious conflict of interest."
On Monday, Argentina's benchmark S&P Merval had fallen by 4%, according toReuters. The incident sparked more than 100 legal complaints, which were assigned to Federal Judge Maria Servini on Monday.
One case was brought by a coalition of lawyers involved in the Right to the City Observatory think tank as well as economist and former Argentine Central Bank President Claudio Lozano. The group accused Milei of fraud, dereliction of duty, and criminal association, according totheBuenos Aires Herald.
An official statement from the president's office on Saturday said that Milei had met twice with the developers of $LIBRA and had decided to promote the coin "as he does daily with many entrepreneurs who want to launch a project in Argentina to create jobs and obtain investments."
"Not having been part of any instance of the development of the cryptocurrency, after the repercussions that the launch of the project had and to avoid any speculation and not give it further dissemination, he decided to delete the post," the statement continued, adding that the president had asked the Anti-Corruption Office to investigate whether he or anyone else in the government engaged in "improper conduct."
However, the lawyers challenged Milei's account, according to the Buenos Aires Herald:
In their report, the lawyers dispute Milei's subsequent claims that he was not aware of the project's details. They highlight that the president made his post just three minutes after $LIBRA was launched, timing that indicates he knew it was coming before it was announced. They also argue that, as an economist, it is unlikely that he did not understand the details of the project he was sharing.
In a post addressed to Milei directly, former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner heavily criticized the current president for painting himself as an expert yet claiming innocence of the scheme.
"Weren't you the 'best president in history'? Weren't you the 'genius of the economy'? From self-proclaimed 'global leader' to CRYPTO SCAMMER," de Kirchner wrote.
"Look where you brought us with your madness! You turned Argentina into a casino where the croupier is the president himself," she continued. "THAT IS YOUR MARKET FREEDOM… that of the casino. Your mask has fallen off."
While experts say impeachment efforts are unlikely to succeed, the incident could harm Milei in the upcoming midterm elections.
"It is extremely serious if confirmed, especially in terms of a president's powers to promote something private," left-wing Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum toldReuters. "If as a president of a country you propose something for private benefit there is an obvious conflict of interest."
The scandal drew comparisons to U.S. President Donald Trump, who also launched a meme coin shortly before taking office, the value of which also first rose and then fell dramatically. Milei has expressed support for Trump in the past, while Elon Musk has taken inspiration from Milei's chainsaw-wielding approach to government for his ideologically-driven anti-government effort Department of Government Efficiency.
