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Argentina’s liberal president Javier Milei was plagued by scandals of members who soared before the collapse, sparking calls and lawsuits for impeachment.
Milei advertised a cryptocurrency called $libra on X on Friday night, which started trading a few minutes ago. Its value quickly soared above $4 before falling 50 cents. Buyers accuse the coin creator of possible adopting a possible “carpet pull” plan in which the initial investors of cryptocurrencies lure others into inflating their price and then quickly withdraw their funds.
Political opponents have filed dozens of lawsuits accusing Miley of violating ethics, while the main left-wing Peronist opposition group said it would launch an improper process and accused him of being “involved in crypto fraud.”
Analysts say it was the biggest crisis in the Miley administration since taking office in December 2023.
Miley’s office said the president met with representatives of the company involved in the coin creation twice, but “at no time to participate.” He posted information about it only as part of his “daily” promotion to his Argentina business.
The president added that the president has asked the executive’s anti-corruption office to investigate whether he or any government actor had any misconduct.
Analysts say the incident has the potential to undermine trust in former private sector economist Miley. He tamed Argentina’s inflation crisis with a thorough austerity plan and built high-profile alliances with tech leaders in Argentina and the United States.
“From the long term to long term, this will stain the president’s credibility, [even if] That’s a [honest] False, given his boast of his ability as an economist.
“For foreign investors, this will create doubts about the government’s political capabilities and raise concerns that their own reform plans are jeopardizing his reform plans.”
Argentina’s stock market fell more than 5% on Monday, while the peso fell 2% against the dollar in key parallel trading markets.
Few Argentines are financially affected by the coin crash, and the country’s FinTech Conference Hall says an analysis of X posts shows that most Libra buyers are in the United States and Asia. They added that coins were never listed in the “overwhelming majority” exchanges of Argentina’s crypto users.
Miley’s opponents seem unlikely to secure the two-thirds majority required for Congress to impeach president, a proposal that centrists say they don’t support it.
Mainstream right-wing professionals, an ally of Milei’s Upstart La Libertad Avanza coalition, said the episode was “serious” because it involved “the country’s credibility. . The president’s entourage,” but accused left-wing leaders of calling for ousting “Political Opportunism”.
But analysts say the investigation of the president can still weigh his approval rating, which has hovered at about 50% in the past year when Argentina held legislative elections in October.
Juan Cruz Díaz, managing director of consulting firms in Buenos Aires, said the scandal threatened to undermine the negotiated position of the minority government in Congress, which is trying to pass an election reform bill .
“This is the first major crisis facing the government,” he said. “It has room for manipulation. [but] How to manage the situation in the coming days and weeks is crucial. ”
