“We took a bullet.” An official with regular access to the Casa Rosada reluctantly acknowledges the negative impact of the scandal caused by President Javier Milei’s support for the launch of a cryptocurrency of dubious origin. “But we're going to get out of this quickly,” the official predicts optimistically.
It remains to be seen whether this forecast will be fulfilled at the desired speed. It doesn't look like it. Milei's unprecedented silence online over the weekend, accompanied by the cancellation of any media appearances by members of the government, was only broken by a controversial television appearance by the President.
In his interview, Milei tried to justify his promotion of the ‘$LIBRA’ cryptocurrency with flimsy, contradictory or false arguments. How does he go on to claim that he acted in good faith and then immediately state that the thousands of people affected knew that it was like a casino gamble? Just one fact will avoid misdirection: the scam was made possible by the President's post, which he eventually deleted, and the fact that it remained there for hours. That is not disseminating, as he claimed, but publicising.
Milei has a history of reckless involvement in problematic digital ventures, to put it kindly. Before and during his brief political career, he promoted (for money, by his own admission) the CoinX platform scam, a Ponzi scheme that promised extraordinary returns. Or we could recall the Vulcan token, which also collapsed and left a mess behind.
Coincidentally, the man behind Vulcano was Mauricio Novelli, an Argentine who was involved $LIBRA. He is the young “entrepreneur” who even once hired Milei to teach at N&W Professional Traders, his little school for financial sharks. Another teacher there is the medieval philosopher Agustín Laje, president of the new La Fundación Faro, a libertarian thinktank.
Novelli is the Argentine branch of $LIBRA. His name appears in official records, with a dozen entries to the Casa Rosada and the Olivos presidential residence. Thanks to his link with Milei and his sister, presidential chief-of-staff Karina Milei (who historically has also managed her brother's money), Novelli brought the two companies behind the scandal closer to the pinnacle of power.
One of them is led by US citizen Hayden Davis, who travelled to Argentina several times and even got a selfie with Milei at the Casa Rosada. Many in the government are looking to Novelli and Karina to explain the relationship with Davis, who has no prestige in the complex crypto universe.
There is something worse. Davis is upping the ante, having taken advantage of the initial inflated quote of $LIBRA. First he claimed that Milei was part of the launch plan, which contradicts the President’s version of events. Then Davis stated that he had US$100 million at the government's disposal as a result of the “operation.” Leaked messages allegedly sent by him assured potential investors (or victims) that he managed Milei by sending funds to his sister, though Davis has backtracked. Is it The fiction of a con man? Or the tip of the iceberg of an opaque financing network?
Davis' remarks, pointing to the possible contribution of funds, underpins another allegation that went almost unnoticed. Charles Hoskinson, the renowned co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, warned that when he attended an event in Buenos Aires last October – organised by Novelli and at which Milei was – that he was asked for money to secure a private meeting with the President and ensure that “magical things” could happen.
Contrary to the optimism of the aforementioned government official, perhaps the $LIBRA scandal has only just begun. It could have unforeseeable effects. Or not. You never know in Argentina.
Comments