Argentine President Javier Milei‘s connection to the collapsed LIBRA meme coin may be more extensive than he has publicly admitted. Newly surfaced phone records, cited in a New York Times report drawing on initial coverage from Argentine cable news channel C5N, reveal seven calls between Milei and a central figure behind the token on the evening of its launch. The logs were obtained from a federal prosecutor’s ongoing investigation into the matter.
Milei promoted the Solana-based token on social media platform X in February 2025, briefly pushing its market capitalisation above $4 billion. The token subsequently crashed by more than 90% within hours as insiders withdrew approximately $87 million in liquidity. The collapse resulted in estimated investor losses of $250 million and prompted fraud charges, a congressional inquiry, and a federal criminal investigation that remains active.
The phone records show the calls occurred on the night of February 14, 2025, between Milei and Mauricio Novelli, one of the entrepreneurs involved in the token’s creation. The calls took place both before and after Milei’s since-deleted post endorsing LIBRA. Novelli also allegedly contacted two of Milei’s senior advisers that same evening, including the president’s sister Karina Milei, according to the report.
WhatsApp messages recovered from Novelli’s phone suggest a financial relationship predating the token’s launch by some time. In a 2023 audio message, Novelli reportedly instructed an assistant to budget “the usual 2,000 for Milei,” describing it as a monthly salary. A separate message from April 2024 referenced “the 4,000 we need to give to Karina,” in an apparent reference to the president’s sister. Draft documents found on the same device outlined a $1.5 million payment arrangement linked to Milei publicly naming Hayden Davis as a presidential adviser.
It is important to note that no evidence has emerged indicating Milei agreed to or received any of the payments described. The Argentine president has not publicly addressed the phone logs or the payment references, and he has not been formally charged in connection with them. By June 2025, Argentina’s anti-corruption office had already cleared Milei, ruling that he acted in a personal capacity when he posted about the token.
Opposition lawmaker Maximiliano Ferraro told the Times that the evidence points to deliberate coordination. “The launch and promotion of LIBRA was not at all improvised or accidental on the part of the president,” Ferraro said. “It was a planned, coordinated and deliberately executed operation.” Novelli’s lawyer, meanwhile, stated that his client “is entirely unconnected to any wrongdoing” and is seeking to have the phone evidence excluded, arguing the device may have been interfered with while in custody.
Austin Campbell, founder of crypto risk and compliance advisory firm Zero Knowledge, told Decrypt that the new evidence could prompt authorities to reopen their review of Milei’s case, though he acknowledged the difficulties involved. Campbell also used the situation to highlight a broader industry issue. “Crypto has a deep problem with undisclosed payments, promotions, and outright scams,” he said, calling for a formal disclosure regime with meaningful civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance.
Milei disbanded the government task force that had been examining the scandal in May of last year. The federal criminal investigation led by prosecutor Eduardo Taiano continues. Argentina’s presidential press office had not responded to a request for comment at the time of reporting.
Originally reported by Decrypt.
