Argentina’s Anti-Corruption Office has cleared President Javier Milei of any wrongdoing related to his promotion of the Libra memecoin.
In a resolution dated June 5, the office stated that Milei acted in a personal capacity when he endorsed the Libra (LIBRA) token in a February 14 post on X. As a result, he did not breach the country’s federal ethics laws governing public officials.
This ruling comes amid controversy, as Milei’s endorsement is believed to have contributed to investors collectively losing $251 million. Opposition party members had called for his impeachment over the incident.
After Milei’s post, LIBRA’s market cap briefly surged to $4 billion before plummeting nearly 94% within hours, displaying typical signs of a crypto pump-and-dump scheme.
The Anti-Corruption Office stated that no public resources were involved in the matter and noted that Milei has been sharing his opinions on X since 2015, nearly eight years before becoming president.
“Although the account occasionally references public policies or decisions from his administration, it does so in a non-institutional way, serving as a platform for political and personal expression,” the office said in a translated document.
“These characteristics of a personal social media account are typical of any citizen publicly expressing their political views,” the department added, emphasizing that Milei was exercising his civil and political rights under Argentina’s constitution.
Milei has also strongly denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he did not promote the LIBRA memecoin but merely “spread the word” about it.
Despite the Anti-Corruption Office’s ruling, a federal criminal court continues to investigate Javier Milei’s role in the LIBRA token scandal.
On May 19, Milei signed a decree disbanding the task force that had been set up to probe the scandal.
No charges have been filed against Milei or any other Argentine officials allegedly involved.
However, critics argue that a thorough and genuine investigation was never properly conducted.
“It was always a sham; they never dared to investigate anything, and now they’re covering for each other because they’re deeply involved,” economist and Argentine Chamber of Deputies member Itai Hagman said in a May 20 post on X.
Polling data from Zuban Córdoba in March indicated that the Libra scandal damaged Milei’s public image and lowered his national approval rating.
The approval rating dropped from 47.3% in November to 41.6% in March, based on responses from 1,600 participants asked if they still trusted Milei following the scandal.
