Retail investors lost more than $250 million on LIBRA, and in the end, no one was held responsible.
An Argentine judge dismissed the case last Friday. President Milei, his sister, the token’s issuer Hayden Davis, and all eight other people involved are off the hook. The prosecutors themselves requested the dismissal and don’t plan to appeal.
Let’s look back at what happened. On February 14 last year, Milei tweeted about the coin, and its market cap soared to $4.5 billion within hours. Then it plunged by more than 90%, while the team’s eight wallets pulled out around $100 million.
The judge’s reasoning came down to this: a celebrity promoting a coin and generating a lot of hype doesn’t, by itself, amount to fraud. To prove fraud, you need evidence of a specific scheme. Investigators found a record of a $5 million transfer on a phone, but couldn’t prove the money had actually been sent.
Put plainly, this ruling leaves a loophole. From now on, celebrities can hype a token, launch it, and dump it—and as long as there’s no direct evidence they received money, it’ll be hard to hold them legally accountable.
A few retail investors had originally joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs, but they were removed from the case in July. They’re now applying to have their status reinstated; only then can they appeal, and the chances aren’t great.
So when it comes to trading shitcoins, it doesn’t matter how famous the person hyping them is. Those first few hours after launch are when the team sells off. You lose money, nobody compensates you—and this time, even the president got off scot-free. #阿根廷法院驳回米莱libra $LIBRA case
An Argentine judge dismissed the case last Friday. President Milei, his sister, the token’s issuer Hayden Davis, and all eight other people involved are off the hook. The prosecutors themselves requested the dismissal and don’t plan to appeal.
Let’s look back at what happened. On February 14 last year, Milei tweeted about the coin, and its market cap soared to $4.5 billion within hours. Then it plunged by more than 90%, while the team’s eight wallets pulled out around $100 million.
The judge’s reasoning came down to this: a celebrity promoting a coin and generating a lot of hype doesn’t, by itself, amount to fraud. To prove fraud, you need evidence of a specific scheme. Investigators found a record of a $5 million transfer on a phone, but couldn’t prove the money had actually been sent.
Put plainly, this ruling leaves a loophole. From now on, celebrities can hype a token, launch it, and dump it—and as long as there’s no direct evidence they received money, it’ll be hard to hold them legally accountable.
A few retail investors had originally joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs, but they were removed from the case in July. They’re now applying to have their status reinstated; only then can they appeal, and the chances aren’t great.
So when it comes to trading shitcoins, it doesn’t matter how famous the person hyping them is. Those first few hours after launch are when the team sells off. You lose money, nobody compensates you—and this time, even the president got off scot-free. #阿根廷法院驳回米莱libra $LIBRA case
