President Milei denies role in 'cryptogate' after 'pay for access' reports

President Javier Milei on Sunday attempted to distance himself from an alleged cryptocurrency scam following reports businessmen tried to "sell access" to the leader ahead of the scandal.

Milei, 54, described recent revelations about the scandal as “third party problems” and not his in a television interview.

Prosecutors are reportedly preparing to examine whether Milei engaged in fraud or criminal association or was in breach of his duties when he praised the ‘$LIBRA’ cryptocurrency last month on social media.

The currency's value soared then crashed, and Milei deleted his blessing hours later, saying he had made a mistake.

Economists, crypto specialists and opposition political figures have criticised the self-declared "anarcho-capitalist" president, an economist by training, saying the digital asset could be a fraud or a Ponzi scheme.

In an article, Forbes magazine has called the scandal the "largest-ever crypto theft.”

The New York Times reported Friday that a   US crypto consultant and Argentine business partner of Milei attempted to "sell access to the president" at a conference in Argentina last year.

There is no evidence Milei was aware of the proposals, the New York Times said.

Speaking to the LN+ television channel in an interview, Milei dismissed the allegation as "barbershop gossip" spread by "spiteful people who maybe wanted to have the meeting and didn't have it.”

He slammed the New York Times as "anti-Trump" and "very much aligned with the Democratic Party."

Milei has shown support for his US counterpart Donald Trump and his top advisor Elon Musk, gifting the SpaceX and Tesla boss a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last month. 

Issuing a warning to the press, he said "very serious" accusations had emerged since the scandal broke out and that he was "waiting for the legal system to finish its work" to "go after journalists who have lied, slandered and libelled."

The La Libertad Avanza leader said he posted about the cryptocurrency because he was told it was "an instrument" to finance "people working as programmers in artificial intelligence and software development.”

The initial post was made “in good faith,” he said, despite the token suffering multi-million-dollar losses in just hours.

When suspicions arose about the scheme, he deleted the post, he said.

Milei said his economics knowledge did not extend to cryptocurrencies, which he described as "hyper sophisticated.”

The President sought to distance himself from the crisis, saying it was "not a problem for me or my officials.”

Trump's special envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, told broadcaster CNN Saturday there would be "legal investigations" into the scandal, which he hoped would provide a "good lesson" for Milei to be "better advised.”

Former president and opposition leader Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has called Milei a "crypto-scammer" and opposition lawmakers announced they would seek impeachment proceedings against him.

In his interview, Milei also referred to a future agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

“We will be sending the programme to Congress and then the board will approve it, and once that is done, the funds will arrive,” he said, although without specifying a timeframe.

– TIMES/AFP