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The cryptocurrency scandal involving Argentina’s President Javier Milei is the latest example of a public figure-endorsed meme coin leading to controversy.
A post on Milei’s X account appeared to endorse the $LIBRA crypto coin, contributing to its rapid rise but within a matter of hours, the post had vanished and was discredited.
President Milei claimed he was unaware of the details of the project and when he was informed, he swiftly removed the X post.
By then, the damage had been done, as the value of the crypto token had plummeted with investors suffering millions of dollars in losses.
$99m worth of crypto had been extracted.
$LIBRA and the web address used to entice interested parties to sign up appeared to suggest the involvement of the President. This was another meme coin invoking the personality of a famous person, just like others latch on to a viral internet trend.
In recent times, there have been meme coins launched by President Donald Trump and his wife Melania, respectively. The president of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadera, followed suit with his own official crypto meme coin earlier this month.
There was even the Hawk Tuah release.
Meme coins often arrive in a blaze of fanfare and then fizzle out soon after, once the novelty subsides, but that is not always the case.
Dogecoin, launched in 2013, has steadied to become the eighth-largest cryptocurrency, especially after an endorsement from Elon Musk five years ago.
Meme coins have become one of the worst things to happen to crypto. It’s sad to see it devolve to this level. People are literally killing themselves over them. I hope for better days.
— Douglas A. Boneparth (@dougboneparth) February 24, 2025
Trust erosion and broader fatigue
Meme coins remain popular, but are they doing too much damage to the reputation and stability of the industry overall?
That is a hot topic of conversation, especially at present when the regime of President Trump has brought crypto to the forefront of the agenda.
Thomas Puech, CEO of Miami-based crypto fund INDIGO, told Reuters, “It’s a very controversial topic.”
“You can look at it from the perspective that all publicity is good publicity,” in reference to the President Trump token, but Puech added, “a lot of retail traders or crypto novices trying to surf a wave were left with a bad taste in their mouth.”
The crypto firm Nansen critiqued the initial involvement of Milei’s team in the Libra project in Argentina.
“What started with a presidential endorsement and a $4.5B valuation quickly unraveled as ‘insiders’ took profits, retail got burned, and key backers distanced themselves,” said a Nansen report.
“The real damage? Trust erosion and broader fatigue from yet another viral token blowing up before most people even had a chance to process what was happening.”
The concern of the crypto industry is that the ongoing proliferation of meme coins is hurting their attempts to be taken seriously.
According to CoinGecko, the meme coin market cap today is $67.6 billion, down significantly from the peak of $127.3b in June 2024.
Image credit: Via Midjourney
