Argentina's Milei had phone calls with leader of LIBRA crypto project that collapsed: NYT

An Argentinian investigation has found that President Javier Milei had phone calls with a key figure behind the LIBRA token project that shot up in value before collapsing and causing investors to lose millions of dollars, according to a report from The New York Times.

"Phone logs ... show seven phone calls between Mr. Milei and one of the entrepreneurs behind the cryptocurrency on the night in 2025 when Mr. Milei posted about LIBRA on X," the paper reported.

Although Milei has denied any wrongdoing, a federal investigation naming the president as a person of interest is ongoing. The probe has found that Milei had phone calls with the crypto lobbyist Mauricio Novelli, a key figure behind the launch of the LIBRA token. The contents of the call are unknown, said The New York Times.

More than a year ago, President Milei promoted the LIBRA token online by posting to X. The coin briefly achieved a market cap exceeding $4 billion before quickly collapsing by more than 90%, with eight wallets linked to the project cashing out $107 million.

Milei later deleted his X posts.

Then in November, an Argentine congressional committee found that Milei provided "essential collaboration" for the project and recommended Congress evaluate his actions.

According to a report in March from investigative outlet El Destape, a document recovered from the phone of Novelli details an alleged $5 million payment agreement connected to Milei's promotion of the LIBRA memecoin.

Before Monday's report in The New York Times, El Destape had previously reported that there were forensic call records showing Novelli's devices had been involved in a coordinated communication surrounding the token's launch. Novelli and Milei exchanged a series of calls on the night that the president posted about the LIBRA project, according to the records.

Last June, Argentina's Anti-Corruption Office cleared Milei of violating public ethics rules, concluding his post was personal rather than official.

His government also disbanded an investigative task force probing the scandal, days after a judge ordered the president's and his sister's bank records unsealed.