86% of crypto traders lost money to president Javier Milei’s rug pull

Javier Milei’s crypto stunt wiped out $251 million in trader losses overnight. The Argentine president endorsed a Solana-based memecoin, $LIBRA, on Friday, pushing its value to $4.5 billion before it collapsed. According to a research note from Nansen today, 86% of all traders who invested in $LIBRA lost money, while a handful of insiders walked away with $180 million in profits.

On-chain data from 15,000 wallets analyzed by Nansen’s Nicolai Sondergaard revealed that a small group of traders had inside access, dumping their holdings while the general public got wrecked. “We see very tangible on-chain evidence showing a group of ‘insiders’ unilaterally profiting off of the masses who got involved,” Sondergaard said in the report. The losses, the timing, and the involvement of government figures have triggered what is now the biggest political scandal of Javier’s presidency.

Javier’s crypto shenanigans

Javier’s $LIBRA promotion post directed users to a website that claimed the token would raise funds for struggling businesses in Argentina. Within minutes, trading bots and snipers—automated systems designed to front-run new tokens—began scooping up liquidity.

FOMO kicked in, and thousands of traders rushed to buy. The market cap hit $4.5 billion in hours, but before most investors could react, the price plummeted 80%.

By the time traders realized what was happening, Javier had already deleted his post. He later claimed he was “not aware of the details of the project” and distanced himself from the token. But blockchain data told a different story.

“What started with a presidential endorsement and a $4.5 billion valuation quickly unraveled as ‘insiders’ took profits, retail got burned, and key backers distanced themselves,” Nansen’s report said.

Solana also took a hit, as its native token lost 20% of its value, and the total value locked (TVL) across the network dropped from $12.1 billion to $8.29 billion, according to DefiLlama data cited by Nansen. Investors dumped holdings, fearing $LIBRA’s collapse could trigger a wider sell-off across the network.

Hayden Davis brags about controlling Javier

Meanwhile, as the scandal escalated, Hayden Davis, the guy who deployed $LIBRA, had some text messages of his leaked where he was bragging about paying Karina Javier, the president’s sister, to control Javier’s decisions.

Karina, who holds the title of General Secretary of Argentina, had allegedly met with local crypto consultant Mauricio Novelli, who later introduced Javier to key figures involved in $LIBRA. While Hayden denied that he paid the Mileis and said the messages were faked, he admitted in a Barstool Sports interview that he profited from the launch and was now looking for ways to “make things right.”

Meanwhile, Argentine assets were in free fall. Bonds underperformed emerging market peers, and stocks plunged 6% before bouncing back the next day. The government’s inability to control the fallout only fueled more chaos.

Javier’s attempt to distance himself from Hayden fell apart Monday night when Todo Noticias accidentally aired a hot mic moment. During an interview, journalist Jonatan Viale allowed Javier’s advisor Santiago Caputo to interrupt and omit key questions, exposing what appeared to be an orchestrated effort to control the narrative.

The clip went viral instantly, making it impossible for Javier to dismiss the controversy. Hayden doubled down, claiming he met Javier multiple times in Buenos Aires and had been working with the president on crypto-related “tokenization” projects.

Javier’s closest circle has been scrambling, while Karina avoided the press entirely, despite being one of the most powerful figures in the administration.

Karina is not only Javier’s top adviser and strategist, but also his gatekeeper. “Talk to Kari” is one of the most common phrases tossed around the president’s circle when it comes to accessing the man himself.

When reflecting on his takeaway from the meme coin debacle, Javier cited the level of access to both himself and his sister.

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