The Rise and Fall of LIBRA: How a Solana-Based Token Endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei Crashed from a $4B Market Cap

The cryptocurrency market faced another high-profile incident as LIBRA, a Solana-based token endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei, crashed from a $4 billion market cap on Friday, leaving its chief advisor holding $100 million in assets.

Argentine President Javier Milei’s promotion of theLIBRA token played a key role in its rapid rise and fall. The token, which was launched on the Solana blockchain, soared to a market cap of $4 billion within hours. However, the value of LIBRA crashed just as quickly, leaving its chief advisor with $100 million in digital assets.

As part of the launch strategy, the team engaged in “sniping” tactics to purchase the token first and maintain price stability. The launch team also admitted to using five digital wallets to remove liquidity from trading pools, enabling LIBRA transactions.

On-chain analytics firm Bubblemaps later connected LIBRA to other cryptocurrency projects, including MELANIA, ENRON, and BOB. The analysis suggests a pattern of coordinated price manipulation across multiple wallet addresses.

In an interview with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, Davis revealed the original plan included waiting for a second promotional video from President Milei before reinvesting the extracted funds. However, this second endorsement never came.

“Whose money is the $100m+ that Hayden is currently sitting on?” Portnoy asked in a tweet.

Later, two wallets associated with the project were emptied, according to data from Solscan. These accounts previously held approximately $881,500 and $891,500 in USDC, respectively.

Davis expressed concerns about his safety in his interview with Coffeezilla, stating he fears becoming “public enemy number one” in what he describes as a “multi-billion dollar political drama.”

The case has drawn attention to the role of political figures in cryptocurrency promotions. President Milei now faces criminal fraud charges for his involvement in promoting the token.