Judge ends legal case against Milei over $Libra crash

Federal judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi dismissed the criminal case against Argentine President Javier Milei and his sister Karina Milei on Thursday. The ruling concluded that the facts of the $Libra cryptocurrency scandal did not match a specific legal definition of fraud.

The judge’s decision followed a request from prosecutors to close the investigation. In the written ruling, de Giorgi stated that the reported events did not fall under a legal category. He further noted that no criminally relevant deception had been proven by the evidence presented in the case.

The legal dispute began after Milei posted about $Libra on the social media platform X in February 2025. He described the coin as a tool to help fund small businesses and start-ups and included a link to purchase it. The price rose sharply following the post. Within a few hours, Milei deleted the message, and the coin’s value dropped. Most investors lost a large portion of their capital.

The sudden collapse of the coin triggered a political response. Opposition members of Congress prepared impeachment proceedings. Online critics used the term rug pull to describe the event, referring to a scheme where promoters attract buyers and then halt trading to keep the funds. Milei has denied these accusations throughout the process.

Milei explained his actions in an interview with Todo Noticias. He stated that he did not promote the coin but merely shared it. He added that he acted in good faith while the value was increasing. He defended deleting the post by saying he learned about the project’s details and decided not to continue promoting it. He also argued that investors entered the transaction voluntarily and understood the risks involved.

The presidential office previously stated that Milei had no role in the development of $Libra. The office announced that the Anti-Corruption Office would examine whether the president had acted improperly at the time of the launch. The judge’s ruling ends the criminal inquiry into that specific episode.

Milei had not responded to news of the dismissal at the time of the original report.