Argentine President Javier Milei leaves the Holocaust Museum after participating in a ceremony to commemorate International Holocaust Day, in Buenos Aires, Argentina January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT
(This Feb.15 story has been refiled to correct the spelling of the crypto coin to $LIBRA, not $LIBRE, in paragraph 2)
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine President Javier Milei could face an impeachment trial in Congress, opposition lawmakers said on Saturday, after the libertarian leader touted a cryptocurrency which crashed soon after.
Milei late on Friday posted on X recommending the little-known crypto coin $LIBRA, which soon after shot up to nearly $5 apiece.
Just hours later, the cryptocurrency plummeted to under $1.
Argentina’s fintech chamber acknowledged that the case could potentially be a “rug pull,” in which the developers of a crypto token draw legitimate investments, pumping up the value, only to later dump their stake.
“This scandal, which embarrasses us on an international scale, requires us to launch an impeachment request against the president,” said lawmaker Leandro Santoro, a member of the opposition coalition.
Milei deleted the post on X, with local media saying the post had been up for a few hours on Friday night. He later said he took down his post after becoming aware of the circumstances, and that he had no relation to the cryptocurrency.
“I was not aware of the details of the project and once I found out, I decided to not continue giving it publicity,” he said.
(Reporting by Jorge Otaola; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
