$LIBRA (Argentina memecoin)
A Solana memecoin created by Kelsier Ventures (led by Hayden Davis). After Argentine President Javier Milei promoted it on Feb 14, 2025, its market cap briefly topped ~$4.5B before insiders sold; reporting describes a rug pull with about $251M in investor losses.
Also known as: LIBRA, Viva La Libertad, Kelsier Ventures, Hayden Davis
Summary
$LIBRA was a Solana memecoin created by the Delaware-registered firm Kelsier Ventures, led by American crypto marketer Hayden Davis. On February 14, 2025, Argentine President Javier Milei promoted it on X as part of a "Viva La Libertad" project; the token's market capitalization briefly exceeded $4.5 billion before collapsing. Reporting widely describes the event as a "rug pull" with roughly $251 million in investor losses. [1][2]
What happened
A small number of insider-linked wallets held a large share of supply and sold shortly after the promotion, crashing the price by roughly 85–96% within hours and affecting an estimated tens of thousands of buyers. Davis later admitted in an interview that he profited on the order of $100 million from the launch. [1][2]
Aftermath
Milei deleted his post hours later, said he had not been fully informed of the project's details, and became the subject of an anti-corruption investigation; he denies wrongdoing. The matter remains under judicial investigation, and the U.S. SEC was reported to have opened a preliminary inquiry. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Linked scams & cases
- Gen Z Quant (QUANT)RelatedTokensA Solana memecoin launched on Pump.fun in November 2024 by a teenager who 'rug-pulled' it live on stream, selling his ~51M tokens for ~128 SOL (~$30K). He repeated the move with further tokens; the community then doxxed him and ironically pumped QUANT.
- $HAWK (Hawk Tuah memecoin)RelatedTokensA Solana memecoin tied to viral personality Haliey Welch, launched Dec 4, 2024. Its market cap reached ~$490M before falling 95%+ within hours, prompting rug-pull/pump-and-dump allegations and a securities lawsuit against the operators (not Welch).
People & entities involved
Sources (3)
- $LIBRA: the timeline of a crypto scandal rocking the Milei government — Buenos Aires Herald
- $Libra cryptocurrency scandal (overview) — Wikipedia
- Libra Token's Hayden Davis Bragged of Influence Over Argentina's Milei — CoinDesk
See also
- Bitcoin Latinum (LTNM)TokensA ~$16M token offering (SAFTs for 'Bitcoin Latinum' / LTNM) that the SEC charged in 2026 as fraud: founder Donald Basile falsely called LTNM 'the world's first insured digital asset' backed by an 'existing trust,' neither of which existed, and diverted investor funds for personal use (including a $160,000 horse).
- Loci (LOCIcoin)TokensA 2017–2018 ICO for 'LOCIcoin' tied to the InnVenn IP-search platform. The SEC charged Loci and CEO John Wise with fraud for raising $7.6M on false claims about revenue, headcount, and user base; Wise also misused investor funds. Settled with a $7.6M penalty and an officer/director bar.
- Blockchain Terminal (BCT)Tokens
This page was last updated on Jun 8, 2026. View revision history.