Key Takeaways
- President Javier Milei clarified he merely shared information about $LIBRA, not actively promoting it.
- Milei met with Hayden Mark Davis for developing financing for entrepreneurs but denies extensive investor impact.
Argentine president Javier Milei is defending himself amidst accusations of fraud and calls for impeachment following his promotion of the $LIBRA token. Speaking during an interview with Jonatan Viale on TN’s “¿La Ves?” on Monday, Milei claimed he simply shared information about the project rather than actively promoting it.
“I didn’t promote it, I shared it,” Milei explained. “I did it because I’m a fanatical techno-optimist.”
“I acted in good faith and I got slapped,” Milei said, addressing the controversy. He maintained that the incident affected only a small number of Argentines, with most investors being Chinese and American.
Explaining the reason for sharing, Milei stated that he shared the $LIBRA token information because he is enthusiastic about such projects and discovered it shortly after its creation.
“I shared this like I shared hundreds of things. My tweet was three minutes after the coin was created because I am a fan of this stuff,” he mentioned.
Milei claimed that those who invested in $LIBRA were well aware of the risks involved. He disputed claims of widespread impact, insisting that the actual figure was far less than 44,000.
“The claim that 44,000 people were affected is simply wrong. The real number is closer to 5,000, at most. And it’s highly unlikely any Argentinians were involved. These are sophisticated traders, volatility traders who knew what they were getting into,” he asserted. “…they did it voluntarily.”
The president revealed he met Hayden Davis, who facilitated the token launch, at Casa Rosada in October 2024. He said that Davis proposed creating a financing structure for entrepreneurs lacking traditional funding options.
“When the Libra thing became public, I spread the word,” Milei said, explaining that his first tweet was to help Argentines who do not have access to traditional financing.
When asked why he deleted the tweet, Milei said he removed it due to negative feedback.
“When people started saying my account was hacked, I pinned the tweet to show it was really me. But then the negative comments piled up, so I took the tweet down to avoid confusion. I never actually deleted it, though – I just hid it,” he said.
He denied government involvement in the operation but warned that “if the justice system determines otherwise, heads will roll.”
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