Argentine judge drops the LIBRA fraud probe into President Milei, his sister and Hayden Davis, finding the memecoin's collapse alone does not prove fraud

An Argentine federal judge has dropped the criminal investigation into President Javier Milei over the LIBRA memecoin, ending a case that began in February 2025 when the president's X post sent the token soaring before it collapsed hours later.

Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi issued the dismissal on Friday, October 23, after prosecutor Eduardo Taiano requested it, Reuters reported, citing court records and the newspaper La Nación. The probe had examined possible fraud in the coin's launch and the roles of Milei and his sister, Karina Milei.

According to Crypto Briefing, the judge found that while Milei's position could have increased interest in the token, his actions did not amount to a fraudulent scheme, and that the collapse of a token's price does not by itself prove fraud without evidence of a deceptive act that induced people to buy. The court found no evidence that Karina Milei was paid to arrange meetings between the president and people linked to the project. The dismissal also covers Hayden Davis, the businessman who described himself as a LIBRA launch adviser and acknowledged holding nearly $100 million after the collapse, and Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy. Davis denies wrongdoing.

Milei posted about LIBRA on February 14, 2025, later deleted the post and said he had acted "in good faith". Blockchain researchers identified about $99 million withdrawn from the token's liquidity pools through eight wallets linked to its creator, Crypto Briefing reported.

The ruling ends the criminal investigation in Argentina. It does not reverse investors' losses, and Reuters did not report whether an appeal is planned.