Javier Milei-Backed LIBRA Token Creator Reportedly Removed $99 Million In Liquidity —Traders Lose Over $250 Million

The scandal-plagued LIBRA token saw approximately $99 million worth of invested liquidity withdrawn by entities tied to the cryptocurrency’s creator, according to a media report on Wednesday.

What Happened: Blockchain research firm Chainalysis discovered that eight cryptocurrency wallets, allegedly tied to the creator team, removed the funds from the token’s liquidity pool, Reuters reported.

Chainalysis could not confirm the identities of the owners but stated that these wallets had received tokens directly from the LIBRA creator.

Benzinga mailed Chainalysis to obtain additional information regarding the withdrawals. The story will be updated once they respond.

See Also: Bitcoin ‘Early In Bull Market,’ Can Compete With Gold ETFs, Blockstream CEO Says

The Solana SOL/USD-based meme coin has been facing brickbats over allegations of pump-and-dump and rug-pull, a scam where creators raise funds for the coin, causing its value to soar only to disappear with the invested funds, leaving the project worthless.

On-chain analytics firm Nansen reported that 86% of traders lost a whopping $251 million on the token, while the remaining made $180 million in profits.

Why It Matters: Argentina President Javier Milei, whose promotional X post ignited the frenzy, has faced calls for impeachment and criminal charges against him over the fiasco.

In his defense, Milei said that he never promoted the coin and anyone who invested in the coin did so voluntarily.

Kelsier Ventures CEO Hayden Davis, Milei's advisor on the LIBRA project, admitted in an interview with on-chain detective CoffeeZilla that he had withdrawn approximately $100 million from the LIBRA liquidity pool and was in control of the funds. He, however, stated that he had no plans to personally profit from these funds.

Price Action: At the time of writing, LIBRA was exchanging hands at $0.2333, down 15% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. The coin has plunged 77% from its peak.

Photo by Igor Faun on Shutterstock

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