After the recent meltdown of the $LIBRA memecoin that was supposed to help his country’s economy, Argentinian President Javier Milei compared crypto to “Russian roulette.” Now, the collapse of the coin threatens to engulf the hard-working President who is being attacked by the socialists he deposed from their rule over the country. The Wall Street Journal reports:
On Jan. 30, Hayden got a bump from Milei, who touted their connection, posting a selfie of them to X and writing that Hayden was “advising me on the impact and applications of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence in the country.”
“LONG LIVE FREEDOM, DAMN IT…!!!” Milei added.
Two weeks later, Davis and his partners released $LIBRA. The evening of the launch, Milei posted on X in support of $LIBRA, calling it a project that will “focus on encouraging the growth of the Argentine economy.” Within hours, the token surged—and then lost most of its value by midnight.
Milei deleted his original post, claiming in a new post he hadn’t been “aware of the details of the project.” But in a video posted to X the day after the launch, Hayden appeared to underscore his relationship with the president.
“I am indeed Javier Milei’s adviser,” Davis said.
By Sunday, Feb. 16, the Argentine president was facing backlash from investors, calls for impeachment from his political opponents and fraud complaints from lawyers. An Argentine law firm asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission to open an investigation into Hayden Davis. Both agencies declined to comment on the existence of an investigation.
In later interviews, Hayden defended the practice of using insider knowledge to make money from tokens such as $MELANIA and $LIBRA.
“It is an insider’s game,” he said in the interview with Findeisen. “This is an unregulated casino.”
Milei, too, compared the crypto market to gambling in an interview with Argentine media outlet Todo Noticias, adding that people who lost money on $LIBRA had no right to complain.
“It’s like someone who goes and plays Russian roulette and the bullet hits him,” Milei said.
Still, Hayden Davis has expressed remorse for the way $LIBRA turned out. In media interviews, he’s contemplated using the $100 million he made—money he has said he believes belongs to Argentina—to prop up the price of $LIBRA. And he’s said that he has done nothing different from any other meme-coin founder.
Action Line: Your Survival Guy is asked all the time, “What do you think of bitcoin?” I’ve answered that question a lot, but not even every crypto currency is bitcoin. The unregulated and speculative aspects of crypto currencies have put a lot of less-than-ethical players in the market. Buyer beware. When you want to talk about gold and currencies in your portfolio, email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com. In the meantime, click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
