Judge Drops $100M Crypto Case Against Milei

For thousands of Argentine investors who lost their savings in the collapse of the $Libra token, the legal uncertainty has now ended. Federal judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi dismissed the criminal case against President Javier Milei and his sister Karina Milei, concluding that the events surrounding the coin's launch did not meet the legal definition of fraud.

The investigation focused on a specific sequence of events in February 2025. President Milei posted on X, formerly Twitter, recommending the newly launched cryptocoin. He stated the asset would help fund small businesses and start-ups and included a direct link to purchase it. Following the post, the token's price spiked sharply. Within hours, the president deleted the message, and the value of $Libra plunged, causing most early buyers to lose the majority of their capital.

In his written ruling, Judge Martinez de Giorgi stated that the reported events did not fall under a specific legal category. The judge determined that no criminally relevant deception had been proven. The dismissal followed a request by prosecutors to close the case, marking the end of a criminal probe that had scrutinized the conduct of the sitting president and his immediate family.

The episode triggered a political crisis in Buenos Aires. Opposition members of Congress organized impeachment proceedings against Milei. Online critics labeled the incident a rug pull, a common crypto scam where promoters attract buyers and then halt trading to keep the proceeds. The presidential office initially announced that the Anti-Corruption Office would examine whether the president had acted improperly.

President Milei has consistently rejected the accusation of fraud. In an interview with Todo Noticias, he argued that he merely shared the coin and did not actively promote it. He stated that he acted in good faith while the price was rising. When asked about deleting the post, he explained that he learned more details about the project and decided to stop promoting it.

The president also defended the voluntary nature of the investments. In a television interview, he argued that investors entered the market voluntarily and understood the inherent risks. The presidential office maintained that Milei had no involvement in the technical development of $Libra. As of the original report, the president had not publicly responded to the news of the dismissal.

The case closed with a judicial determination rather than a settlement. The ruling stands as a final decision on the criminal aspects of the $Libra launch. The financial losses sustained by individual investors remain a matter of civil dispute, but the criminal burden against the executive branch has been lifted by the court's order.