The $LIBRA Memecoin Scam: Inside the President's Pump and Dump Scheme Leading to a $4 Billion Collapse

After President Argentina Javier Milei confirmed that the meme currency LIBRA was launched on February 14, 2025, it became the subject of investigation by experts due to a pump-and-dump fraud. When insiders quickly sold off their stocks, they withdrew 107 million dollars, causing the currency's value to collapse and wiping out over 4 billion dollars from the market capitalization in just a few hours. This report will examine how the market reacts, the general sentiment of the community, and the impacts of the launch of this currency. We will also explore the roles of key figures, the Argentine government, and what may happen next with the $LIBRA currency. From Startups to Scams: All About the LIBRA Cryptocurrency $LIBRA is a cryptocurrency created by entrepreneur Hayden Davis, who is also the CEO of Kelsier Ventures, a cryptocurrency investment company. Bloomberg reported that KIP Protocol, a company focusing on decentralized AI technology, has participated in the launch of $LIBRA. KIP declares their participation after launch to help choose tech projects and support AI efforts. This currency runs on the Solana blockchain, known for fast and cheap transactions, popular with meme crypto traders. Everyone can buy this currency through the website named vivalalibertadproject.com, a slogan often used by Milei, his political party is also named La Libertad Avanza. The President's support has triggered a dizzying price surge On the evening of February 14, Argentine President Javier Milei posted on social media that $LIBRA token will boost the Argentine economy and support small businesses. He linked to the token's website, promoting it as a way to fund local companies and projects. There is information that $LIBRA token was created just before Milei's announcement and the website domain was registered on the same day.

Milei declared in his post that Argentina is attracting global investment. Initially, the price of $LIBRA started close to 0 and focused on a few digital wallets. After Milei's confirmation, its price soared to nearly $5, pushing its market capitalization to over $4 billion. However, a community warning had appeared early on his post, advising users to verify the project before participating, suggesting that this could be a scam as developers abandoned the project after collecting money. Immediately after, Milei deleted his post and declared that he did not know all the details of the project and decided to stop supporting the project.

Within just a few hours, the token's value dropped sharply to just a few cents, and its market capitalization lost over $4.4 billion. According to The Kobeissi Letter, insiders have started dumping $87.4 million worth of $LIBRA within the first three hours after launch, with 82% of the tokens controlled by a single undisclosed economic entity. Hayden Davis, the entrepreneur behind $LIBRA, admitted to still retaining some profits despite the significant drop in token price. The President's gamble is surprising The attention of retail investors to memecoins with endorsements from celebrities has skyrocketed after US President Donald Trump released the Official Trump memecoin (TRUMP) on January 18. This was followed by First Lady Melania Trump launching the Melania Meme token (MELANIA) on January 19 on the Solana network, just before the presidential inauguration on January 20.

Even though admitting the president's mistake, he continues to share a post instructing how to buy memecoin Libra. The main president of Argentina confirming the meme coin Libra is very surprising. It's the worst that a highly regarded government official promotes a random meme coin. This move by the president is considered unusual and shows his active involvement in the scam. Argentina officially launches investigation into $LIBRA Before collapsing, other blockchain data companies have raised concerns about the project. For example, the blockchain analysis company Bubblemaps highlighted issues with the tokenomics of LIBRA, pointing out that 82% of the tokens could be sold immediately from the beginning. According to a statement from the Office of the President of Argentina, Oficina del Presidente, issued on X on February 16, Milei requested the Anti-Corruption Office to investigate himself and all other government members for possible misconduct. Meanwhile, Milei is facing pressure from political opponents calling for his impeachment after he endorsed a cryptocurrency that led to a $100 million scam. In his statements and tweets, Milei has denied prior knowledge of the project. However, he has since deleted these statements. Additionally, conflicting accounts are emerging from other relevant parties. Early Monday morning, KIP Protocol, a cryptocurrency and AI company that previously worked with the Argentine government, issued a detailed statement challenging many claims about their role in launching the LIBRA token. The company asserts that their CEO, Julian Peh, only met President Milei once on October 19, 2024, and that meeting did not discuss any specific projects, including "Viva la Libertad" or any token launches. According to the company, no other employees had a meeting with the President of Argentina. Their main players and their $LIBRA conspiracy were exposed After the LIBRA coin scandal, investigative journalist Coffeezilla contacted individuals related to the address 0xcEA and those who created it. He found that Hayden Mark Devis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures, his father is Tom Davis, and notorious scammer Arunkumar Sugadevan are behind the incident. In an interview, Tom Davis admitted that their group not only created the memecoin LIBRA but also manipulated the initial sale to profit from it. They used some wallet addresses to buy early and made $6 million from these actions. Internal trading strategy The investigation into the LIBRA fraud case shows that the scammers behind the project used their internal knowledge to manipulate the market. They used multiple wallets to quickly buy a large amount of tokens as soon as it was launched, a strategy known as "sniping".

This relates to buying a new token as soon as it is released, often before regular investors have a chance to react. These early buyers then sell a large portion of their holdings after a few hours to make significant profits, causing regular investors to incur losses. In the case of LIBRA, attackers associated with wallet address 0xcEA have sold over 100 million dollars worth of tokens as soon as its market value peaked, taking advantage of the price increase and causing other investors to lose asset value. The relationship between Melania and Libra Memecoin A joint investigation by blockchain analysis company Bubblemaps and anonymous investigator Stephen Findeisen, also known as Coffeezilla, has revealed evidence that the same group was behind the failed launches of both the LIBRA and MELANIA tokens. Bubblemaps shared on Twitter, "After analyzing cross-chain money transfer transactions and timeline patterns, we are very confident that this is the case."

The investigation found that wallet activities connecting different projects show profits from one program being used to fund another program through cross-chain transfers. For example, a wallet on the Solana network, labeled "P5tb4", earned over $2.4 million from initial transactions of the MELANIA token and then transferred that amount to an Avalanche wallet "0xcEA" directly linked to the token creator. The Blockchain profile shows that wallet 0xcEA transferred 1.6 million USDC to three Solana wallets just hours before the $LIBRA token was launched. Subsequently, these wallets quickly purchased 3.77 million $LIBRA tokens and sold them for 8.25 million USDC, making a profit of 6.65 million dollars. Deeper analysis shows that the wallet "0xcEAe…06e2" has transferred USDC from Avalanche to Solana and made a payment to Dave Portnoy, indicating that this wallet may be directly linked to the $LIBRA group. Token LIBRA, supported by Argentine President Javier Milei in a short time, quickly reached a market capitalization of billions of dollars before plummeting 95% when insiders withdrew $87 million. Similarly, the MELANIA token, authenticated by the First Lady of the United States in January, initially soared in value but then collapsed, resulting in significant losses for everyday investors. According to Bubblemaps, this group may have led some other token launches with names like TRUST, KACY, VIBES, and HOOD, all following a similar pattern of quick profits followed by sharp declines. Hunt with a sniper: From TRUMP to LIBRA New data from Arkham shows a fast buying model on a large scale by the same group behind the launch of memecoins TRUMP and LIBRA. The blockchain profile shows an entity linked to the address 6QS—has cut over 1 million dollars worth of TRUMP tokens in the first block of the launch—continues to distribute those tokens to wallet 5CP and related addresses, eventually selling TRUMP for significant profit.

Right after Chairman Javier Milei reposted the article 'How to buy LIBRA', an address linked to this network bought 5 million LIBRA worth of dollars. The quick purchase, large volume, indicates the previous TRUMP sniper strategy, showing a similar approach to exploit launches and confirm memecoin. Investigators said that the repetitive tactics, such a large scale, indicate a systematic internal market manipulation, causing concern that individuals behind these transactions are planning to pump and dump on multiple projects. Conclusion Until the investigation is concluded, we still wonder who is really behind this fraud: President of Argentina, KIP Protocol, Kelsier Ventures, or Hayden Davis? The LIBRA incident highlights the increasing risks in the memecoin market. While many investors are attracted by the potential for quick profits, it is often only those on the inside who truly benefit. As more and more fraud cases are being discovered, the demand for stricter regulations and greater openness in the memecoin space is becoming increasingly urgent. The role of the 0xcEA wallet in the LIBRA scam reveals the dark side of the cryptocurrency space, where financial fraud tactics and rampant dishonesty abound without any checks.