The Argentinian scandal that started with a tweet and ended with a cryptocurrency collapse has revealed the problem of how cryptocurrency and politics can help the powerful at the expense of ordinary investors. Argentina’s President Javier Milei posted a tweet on Valentine’s Day promoting a new cryptocurrency called $Libra, which had been created just 23 minutes earlier. Although thousands of people invested, $Libra’s value promptly plummets, leaving almost everyone with $250 million in losses while the largest stakeholders profited. Critics argue that Milei had scammed his constituents, and an investigation has been opened with Milei as a target. Meanwhile, a similar coin, $Trump, was promoted by President Trump and generated enormous profits for insiders and $2 billion in losses for more than 800,000 investors. Both cases show the dangers of cryptocurrency scams promoted by political figures.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/world/americas/argentina-crypto-scandal-president.html