Argentine Court Dismisses Libra Case Against Milei and 10 Others

Argentina's President Javier Milei and his sister Karina Milei are out of the criminal case over the Libra meme coin. Buenos Aires National Criminal and Correctional Federal Court No. 8 dismissed the charges in a ruling issued Friday afternoon, Oct. 23. The court found that the losses tied to the token's launch were not sufficient to constitute a scam.

The ruling covers Milei and 10 others, including Karina Milei and Hayden Davis. It followed a petition from public prosecutor Eduardo Taiano, who determined there was no conclusive evidence linking Milei or any defendant to the alleged crimes.

The court's reasoning

Federal Judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi found no evidence of a scam. The token was launched, blockchain data showed it operated, and there were no promises of future profitability. Losses in the volatile meme coin market, the court held, were not enough on their own to prove fraud.

The abuse of authority claim against the president fell too. The court reasoned that Milei shared the token information personally, without institutional or administrative acts, so his promotion could not be read as an exercise of state power.

Charges of incompatible negotiations and influence peddling were dismissed as well. Karina Milei, General Secretary of the Presidency, had been accused of receiving money to arrange access and meetings with her brother. The court found no evidence against her.

What happened with Libra

Milei was drawn into the probe over his social media promotion of the token soon after its February 2025 launch. Libra, also known as the Viva La Libertad Project, was pitched as a meme coin to support small Argentine entrepreneurs. Within hours the price plummeted, hitting more than 40,000 investors with nearly $110 million in losses.

Loose ends

A related investor class action in New York, which brought RICO and related charges against Kelsier Ventures and others, was dismissed separately. Reports disagree on when: one account places the dismissal earlier this month, another in September, and the two have not been reconciled.

Separately, an independent trust launched in May plans to distribute more than $110 million from Libra token sales to Argentine entrepreneurs before November, through a grants system. No further details have been given.

What it means

The decision runs against a congressional commission's final report, which suggested the Libra scheme was not isolated and that Milei should be investigated for misconduct. With the criminal dismissals, no one is held responsible in court for the roughly $110 million in investor losses.

The ruling turns on a distinction crypto markets will recognize. A token that trades, shows visible on-chain activity and makes no explicit promise of returns is treated, when it collapses, much like a stock that craters after a splashy listing: a painful market loss, not by itself proof that anyone was defrauded. For the investors who bought Libra in those first hours, the remaining tangible thread is the trust's planned grants, which are slated to go out before November.